Europe and its Outside. America as a “constitutive external” in Modern Philosophy

Abstract

The essay aims to investigate the theoretical role of the New World in Modern Philosophy. In Modern Philosophy, New World has been conceptualized as the “constitutive outside” of Europe, namely as a radical alterity and, at the same time, the condition of possibility for its representation. Therefore, we can argue that the European self-representation (both philosophical and political) should be understood in its dialectical relation with its constitutive difference. The paper is structured as follows: in the first part, we explain the concept of constitutive outside and its analytical function; in the second part, we analyse in depth Hobbes’ (2.1), Locke’s (2.2), and Hegel’s (2.2) reflections on the New World; in the last part, we summarize the main results of the paper and we sketch possible political implications for our current understanding of Europe.