Philosophy and Periphery

Abstract

From Greek antiquity to our present days, philosophy has been a discipline of peripheral nature, both due to the social conditions in which philosophical thought has been developed and also due to an intrinsic demand of its exercise. This paper poses the problem of establishing a relationship between philosophical activity and periphery under the two aspects mentioned above, in such a way that from this relationship the eminently critical orientation of philosophy can be understood. We point out, first, how the birth of philosophy was linked to periphery of great despotic East empires, to a neighbouring zone that was constituted after the Mycenaean monarchy fall, and in what sense philosophy was characterized by a borderline or marginal exercise of thought within Greek civilization. Second, we point out how Kant's philosophy inaugurates the age of modern criticism in history of philosophical thought, insofar as it implies both a marginal situation of philosopher in political revolutions development, but also a marginal situation of philosopher as a revolutionary agent of culture. Finally, we argue that philosophy can only preserve the strength of its critical orientation in XXI century capitalist civilization if it aligns itself with the minority processes of subjectivity transformation.