In the Labyrinth of Emancipation

Abstract

In this chapter, I analyse the concept of emancipation in terms of a philosophical anthropology of autonomy, which allows me to assess the stakes of the historical development of the classical form of the concept of emancipation and its connection to the idea of minority, orUnmündigkeit. My thesis is that this conception reaffirms a hierarchical conception concerning the relationship between knowledge and political action, leading to forms of tutelage based on the necessity of education. In opposition to such a view, I draw on a particular conception of materialism, which posits the reciprocal constitution between activity (Tätigkeit) and subjectivity.