Kojève and the problem of completion: from the first brouillon to the end of history

This study proposes a different way to approach the thought of Alexandre Kojève by considering an obvious yet overlooked aspect of his corpus. Kojève's legacy, both philosophical and political, is rooted in the idiosyncratic conclusions he draws from his (in)famous interpretation of the Phenomenology of Spirit, namely that Hegel's ÔÇ£Système du SavoirÔÇØ represents a philosophical, political, and historical terminus ad quem (referred to as the ÔÇ£end of historyÔÇØ). Most studies of Kojève take this thesis as their point of departure and, consequently, take for granted the fact that his thought is situated in the ambit of denouement, accomplishment and closure. By contrast, this study argues that this approach fails to address what is arguably most distinctive about Kojève's work: in stark contrast to the contents of his corpus, and his repeated claims of systematic completion, Kojève's actual ┼ôuvre, taken as a whole, is marked by its fundamentally fragmented, unfinished, and incomplete form. It's this open-ended or incomplete dimension that most calls for interpretation.