Giorgio Agamben

Giorgio Agamben (born 22 April 1942 in Rome) is a leading Italian philosopher and political thinker. He studies how language, power, law, and human life connect. His ideas on the state of emergency, bare life, and biopolitics have influenced philosophy and politics worldwide. 

 Early life and education 
Agamben studied law and philosophy at the University of Rome La Sapienza. He earned his doctorate with a thesis on Simone Weil and took part in Heidegger's seminars on Hegel and Heraclitus. He also studied the Jewish Torah, Christian texts, and Greek and Roman law in their original languages. 

 Academic career 
Agamben has taught philosophy at universities in Macerata, Verona, and at the Collège International de Philosophie in Paris. He also taught in Venice and was a visiting professor in the United States.

 Main ideas 
 Language and metaphysics: He believes language is the basis for talking about being. Every word has a deeper meaning. 
 Biopolitics and bare life (Homo Sacer): He expanded on the idea of biopolitics, how modern states control human life. In his book Homo Sacer, he introduced "bare life"—life stripped of rights, controlled by the state, under sovereign power. 
 State of exception: He wrote about the "state of exception", when governments remove laws in emergencies. He says modern states often use this power permanently, making people live in a legal border zone or "camp". 
 New politics: Agamben suggests we need a new politics based on community, not on state or law. He believes in moving beyond traditional ideas like sovereignty, rights, and state control, and embracing openness and shared life.

 Major works 
 Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (1995/1998)
 The Coming Community (1990/1993)
 Infancy and History, Means Without End, Bartleby, and more 

 Controversies and commentary 
After 9/11, he refused to give biometric data (like fingerprints) for entry into the US, calling it biopolitical tattooing. He also criticized the use of emergency laws during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 Influence and legacy 
Agamben has influenced many fields: philosophy, political theory, legal studies, literature, and religious studies. His work is primarily shaped by Walter Benjamin, Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and others.

 References 

Category:Italian educators
Category:Italian essayists
Category:Italian philosophers
Category:1942 births
Category:Critical theorists
Category:Living people
Category:Writers from Rome
Category:Italian political philosophers
Category:Academics of the Warburg Institute
Category:Emergency laws
Category:Academic staff of European Graduate School
Category:Academic staff of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty