Γιατί σκεφτόμαστε; Τι να πράξουμε;

by Kostas Axelos, Κώστας Αξελός

...Τα γραπτά του Κώστα Αξελού έχουν την ανησυχητική γοητεία του μινωικού ανακτόρου. Αν διεισδύσεις, είναι αδύνατο να ξεφύγεις από το λαβύρινθο της λογικής του. Η φιλοσοφική και πολιτική του διαδρομή, όσο αντιφατική κι αν μπορεί να τη βρίσκει κανείς, είναι κατ εικόνα της ίδιας αυτής λογικής. Προκαλεί κάθε προσδιορισμό στον οποίο θα ήθελες να τον προσκολλήσεις. Αρνούμενος κάθε μερική και επιμέρους ερμηνεία του έργου του, καταξιωνόμενος ως ο μοναδικός φιλοσοφικός μάρτυς στο ύψος του παρόντος χρόνου και των ερωτημάτων που θέτει, θέλει να τοποθετείται πέρα από τα κόμματα και πέρα από τις ιδεολογίες

JEAN MICHEL PALMIER

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Kostas Axelos (also spelled Costas Axelos; Greek: Κώστας Αξελός) was a Greek philosopher. He was born in Athens and attended high school at the French Institute and the German School of Athens. He enrolled in the law school in order to pursue studies in law and economics. With the onset of World War II Alexos became involved in politics. During the German and Italian occupation he participated in the Greek Resistance, and later on in the Greek Civil War, as an organiser and journalist affiliated with the Communist Party (1941–1945). He was later expelled from the Communist Party and condemned to death by the right-wing government. He was arrested and escaped.
At the end of 1945 Axelos moved to Paris, France, where he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. From 1950 to 1957 he worked as a researcher in the philosophy branch of C.R.N.S, where he was writing his dissertations, and subsequently proceeded to work in Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. From 1962 to 1973 he taught philosophy at the Sorbonne. His dissertation "Marx, penseur de la technique" (translated as "Alienation, Praxis and Techne in the Thought of Karl Marx") tried to provide an understanding of modern technology based on the thought of Heidegger and Marx and was very influential in the 1960s, alongside the philosophy of Herbert Marcuse.
Axelos was a collaborator on, columnist with, and subsequently editor of the magazine Arguments (1956–1962). He founded and, since 1960, has run the series Arguments in Edition de Minuit. He has published texts mostly in French, but also in Greek and German. His most important book is Le Jeu du Monde (Play of the World), where Axelos argues for a pre-ontological status of play.