Introduction : the lexicographer and the sovereign

This dictionary seeks to trace both the philosophical lineages of Agamben’s terms, and their development throughout his oeuvre. In doing so, it aims not to stabilise terms by referring them back to the authority of an origin, but to reveal new possibilities for use deposited and forgotten beneath their currently accepted meanings. This will allow the reader to return to the sources, both the philosophical sources on the basis of which Agamben builds his conceptual edifice, and the places in his work in which a term first appears. This will enable a greater appreciation of the philosophical constellation in which his thought arose, as well an understanding of both the continuities and discontinuities between his thought and that of his philosophical sources.