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Based on the suggestions of Johan Arnason (in Praxis und Interpretation. Sozial philosophische studien [Practice and Interpretation. Studies on Social Philosophy], Frankfurt, 1988), an attempt is made to show how the addition of a hermeneutic dimension to critical theory broadens its scope & strengthens its foundations, with focus on the criteria by which society is defined as modern. This context of modernity justifies the introduction of the hermeneutic dimension, but leaves undefined the political aspect of the theory. Here, this aspect is discussed, drawing on the work of Jurgen Habermas, Cornelius Castoriadis, & Claude Lefort. Modified AA

The author summarizes the principal theses developed in his political interpretation of the American Revolution published under the title, La naissance de la pensee politique américaine. The theoretical conclusion of that Revolution in the Constitution of 1787 and in its interpretation by The Federalist Papers does not explain the two phenomena which continue to define American political life : the birth of a System of political parties, and the practice of judicial review by a non-elected Supreme Court. It is thus necessary to explain how these two phenomena, invented at the time of the « Revolution of 1800 » which brought Jefferson to the Presidency, could develop on the basis of the political theory on which the Revolution itself was founded.