Political Zoology

English Editorial (translated by Silvia Benso)

Abstract

The difference between the right and the left dwindles, appears as progressively unclear. With respect to the right and the left, one could say what Augustine maintains about time. If no one asks us what the right and the left are, we know it well; yet if someone asks us, we no longer know. What kind of odd mutant animals have the right and the left become, or are they? In any case, such shock concepts are present and active within the public space; therefore they are particularly relevant to Spazio Filosofico.

The essays that have been gathered in this issue of Spazio Filosofico (some from the right, some from the left, and some from neither) try to cast some light on this topic. With respect to their subject matter, they behave a little like Goethe; when having to distinguish among natural forms that were diverse and yet similar, intertwined, and related to one another, Goethe admitted to his frequent difficulties since he did not “dare plant his stake or draw a boundary line” and could “never hope for an indisputable application” of norms and definitions. Goethe asked: “What should we think of some many irregular malformations?”