Study on the nature of a variable geometry
Baptiste Giroudon
“The ruins”. Temple of Zeus. Athens. Greece. 2010.
In political science as in art, morals and geometry, it is essential that truth be strictly distinguished from reality. As long as politics remains on a theoretical ground, it is a science which can be considered as exact as geometry in its definitions, as rigorous in its deductions. Just as in geometry, only absolute rights are considered. Consequently, political science operates on an idea and not on any form of reality. It shares another common trait with geometry in that it is not solely a satisfaction of the mind. Its goal is practical. One knows how the geometrician proceeds. First, he sets down his axioms and his definitions; he then deduces all propositions from the so-called definitions, using the above-mentioned axioms. The sequence of those propositions makes up the whole science of geometry. Ideal figures are the result of those definitions, and their diverse properties are demonstrated, without any concern about whether or not reality conforms exactly to this geometric truth established by definitions and theorems. Above all, the geometrician never tries to confirm through experiment such demonstrations which are based on abstract principles and preconceptions. I take reality for what it is worth, and I leave it to the statesmen’s judgement. Imperfections and miseries of real democracies, either past or modern, do not disprove definitions and deductions of democratic theory more than the irregularities and defects of concrete geometric figures disprove definitions and demonstrations of pure geometry. When confronted to the rough prejudices of imagination, philosophy could not repeat enough that in political science, as in morals or literature, reality in not equivalent to truth. It is at its best an imperfect sketch; it can even be its resounding negation.
Excerpts from La DÊmocratie, Étienne Vacherot (1860).
“Demo #1”. NATO summit. Strasbourg. France. 2009.
“The playground”. Naval station Guantanamo Bay. US territory. 2010.
“The praying room”. London conference on Afghanistan. UK. 2010.
“Crossing”. Lybia/Egypt. 2011.
Untitled #1. European council. Brussels. Belgium. 2010.
“Tahrir square”. Cairo. Egypt. 2011.
“Christiania independent village�. Copenhagen. Danemark. 2009.
“The camp #1”. Calais. France. 2008
“Temple of Ares”. Athens. Greece. 2010.
“The day Bin Laden died #1”. North Hamptons. USA. 2011.
“The parking�. Buchenwald concentration camp. Germany. 2010.
“The sleeper”. Paktia province. Afghanistan. 2009.
“Agora”. Athens. Greece. 2010.
“The day Bin laden died #2”. Ground Zero. USA. 2011.
“Masked man”. Location unknown. 2010.
Untitled #2. Cairo. Egypt. 2011.
“The Knight shack”. Phoenix camp. Kabul. Afghanistan. 2009.
Untitled. Dubai. UAE. 2010.
“The elector”. Kabul province. Afghanistan. 2009.
“School search”. Paktika province. Afghanistan. 2009.
“The polling office�. Kabul province. Afghanistan. 2009.
“Demo #2”. Athens. Greece. 2010.
“The camp #2”. Calais. France. 2008.
“Gaddafi’s palace”. Libya. 2011.
Untitled #3. Cairo. Egypt. 2011.
“The afghan worker”. FOB Ghazni. Afghanistan. 2009.
“The Day off”. Naval station Guantanamo Bay. US territory. 2010.
“The camp #3”. Atmeh. Syria. 2012.
“The white star memorial club’s member”. Buchenwald. Germany. 2010.
Untitled #4. Temple. Athens. Greece. 2010.
“The camp #4 and the parking�. Buchenwald. Germany. 2010.
First edition of 300 copies, 2015.
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© Baptiste Giroudon, 2015 Editorial and graphic design : Arnaud Brunet & Rudy Nimsguerns / [neus] Translation : Lisa Brewster Print by Manufacture d’Histoires des Deux-Ponts ISBN : 979-10-92388-06-0