The Iroquois Confederacy and the Possibility of Heteronomous Democracy

What is it about?

Cornelius Castoriadis (1922-1997) argues that the project of autonomy appears in only two societies throughout human history: ancient Greece and Western Europe. Is this true? Using the debate between Castoriadis and the members of M.A.U.S.S. as its starting point, the present study interprets historic Iroquois institutions with reference to the two conditions of an autonomous society: democracy and philosophy. It concludes that while Castoriadis justifiably interprets the Iroquois Confederacy as heteronomous, the confederacy’s democratic political form compels us to doubt the necessary connection he posits between democracy and philosophy.

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