Vitam Instituere
In this book, Roberto Esposito continues his philosophical exploration of the relation between institutions and human life. Starting from the enigmatic Latin term vitam instituere, he charts its early emergence in modern philosophy and its development along a path that culminates in a novel understanding of the relationship between politics and life. Although the concept of institutio vitae originated in Roman law, it was Machiavelli who first conceived of politics as an instituent force. After Spinoza endowed the social imaginary with the capacity to institute relational life, Hegel was the first to view the ‘objective spirit’ as the space in which society and state are structured by institutional dynamics. However, in the Hegelian system it is the same dialectic – as an infinite process in which ideas materialize in reality – that expresses instituent power. Only by drawing from these modern roots, argues Esposito, can contemporary thought recognize the movement of institutions as
