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John Locke’s foundational place in the history of British empiricism and liberal political thought is well established. So, in what sense can Locke be considered a modern European philosopher? Identity and Difference argues for reassessing this canonical figure. Closely examining the "treatise on identity" added to the second edition of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Étienne Balibar demonstrates Locke’s role in the formation of two concepts central to the metaphysics of the subject—consciousness and the self—and the complex philosophical, legal, moral and political nature of his terms.
With an accompanying essay by Stella Sandford, situating Balibar’s reading of Locke in the history of the reception of the Essay and within Balibar’s other writings on "the subject," Identity and Difference rethinks a crucial moment in the history of Western philosophy.
Etienne Balibar
Étienne Balibar is one of the foremost living French philosophers. He holds positions as Anniversary Chair in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, Visiting Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of French and Italian and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris, Nanterre. He initially rose to prominence as the student-collaborator of Louis Althusser, co-editing with him the collection Reading Capital, a global landmark in Marxist philosophy. Since then, he has written dozens of books and hundreds of articles, being particularly known for his writings on race, Europe, Spinoza, and political thought more generally, including his well-regarded books on Marx and Locke.
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