137 | Althusius: Communitarianism Before Hobbes Artwork

What's Left of Philosophy

In What’s Left of Philosophy Gil Morejón (@gdmorejon), Lillian Cicerchia (@lilcicerch), Owen Glyn-Williams (@oglynwil), and William Paris (@williammparis) discuss philosophy’s radical histories and contemporary political theory. Philosophy isn't dead, but what's left? Support us at patreon.com/leftofphilosophy

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What's Left of Philosophy

137 | Althusius: Communitarianism Before Hobbes

June 29, 2026 • Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, and William Paris • Season 1 • Episode 137

0:00 | 53:50

In this episode we talk about the political philosophy of early modern jurist Johannes Althusius. For us, he represents a road not taken in political theory, since Hobbes definitively constructed political philosophy around the idea of the self-interested atomized subject and he couldn’t disagree more. Althusius is an axis between medieval and modern thinking about political life, and his federalist vision forces us all to ask odd questions about what we want. History teaches!

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References:

Johannes Althusius, Politica, translated by Frederick S. Carney (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964).

Music:

“Vintage Memories” by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

“My Space” by Overu | https://get.slip.stream/KqmvAN