Notion of violence in contemporary political philosophy

One of the key concepts of political philosophy, violence has been approached within contexts of excessive use of power or violation of rights throughout the history of philosophy. Philosophers, who pondered upon violence, had to deal with uncertainties and dilemmas they encountered, regardless of the context that determined their perspectives. However, the relational ground as yet another context has been overlooked and not benefited as a means of conceptualization. The purpose of this dissertation is to approach violence in the political sphere with respect to its relational dimension and conceptualize it as such. To that end, texts from prominent political thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Claude Lefort and Giorgio Agamben are to be reread and dimensions, where violence in the political sphere is visible, will be evaluated from a new perspective through the lens of their work. Concepts in philosophy such as Zoe, Bios, private sphere, political sphere and biopolitics, as well as Giorgio Agamben's notions of homo sacer and bare life, comprise the conceptual framework of this dissertation. Key Words: Violence, political violence, democracy, totalitarism, terror, law, constitution, homo sacer, zoe, bios