Frédéric Gros 
The Security Principle 
From Serenity to Regulation

In
The Security Principle, French philosopher Fr�d�ric Gros takes a historical approach to the concept of ‘security’, looking at its evolution from the Stoics to the social network. With lucidity and rigour, Gros’s approach is fourfold, looking at security as a mental state, as developed by the Greeks; as an objective situation and absence of all danger, as prevailed in the Middle Ages; as guaranteed by the nation state and its trio of judiciary, police and military; and finally ‘biosecurity’, control, regulation and protection in the flux of contemporary society. In this deeply thought-provoking account, Gros’s exploration of security shines a light both on its past meanings as well as its present uses, exposing the contemporary abuses of security and the pervasiveness of it in everyday life in the Global North.

A propos de l’auteur

Fr�d�ric Gros is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris XII and the Institute of Political Studies, Paris. He was the editor of the last lectures of Michel Foucault at the Coll�ge de France. He has written books on psychiatry, law, and war as well as the best-selling Philosophy of Walking. He lives in Paris.