Slavoj Žižek on Anton Alikhanov, Kant, and the Politics of “Deeds vs. Words”

Žižek’s response to Alikhanov

Žižek opens by reacting to Anton Alikhanov’s public reply to his criticism. He says he will treat the text on its own terms rather than speculate about who helped write it. The key issue for Žižek is Alikhanov’s claim that Kant is connected to the war in Ukraine and to broader Western ideology.

Kant, responsibility, and pragmatism

The essay centers on whether Kant should be blamed for political and ethical tendencies associated with the modern West. Žižek argues that Kant is not simply a source of utilitarian pragmatism, but he also notes that Kant’s formalism can be misread or instrumentalized. Alikhanov, in Žižek’s reading, tries to contrast Kantian language with a supposedly Western ethic of pragmatism and irresponsibility.

Irony and the problem of interpretation

A major theme is whether Alikhanov’s comments were meant ironically. Žižek says Alikhanov later presents his critique as a critique of the instrumentalization of Kant rather than Kant himself, but Žižek remains skeptical. He argues that the original claims about Kant and Ukraine were direct and should not be softened after the fact.

Universalism, the West, and civilization

Žižek also disputes the larger civilizational framing in Alikhanov’s response. He notes that criticisms of Western universalism are often valid, but says similar forms of universalizing hypocrisy have existed in Christian colonial history too. He pushes back against caricatures of liberal Europe and the claim that the West is uniquely trapped in utilitarian egoism.

The broader philosophical dispute

Beyond the immediate polemic, Žižek uses the exchange to return to questions of ethics, autonomy, and the relationship between words and deeds. He suggests that the debate reveals deeper disagreements about responsibility, legitimacy, and whether political actors really act according to the principles they declare.

Key takeaways

• Žižek’s essay responds to Anton Alikhanov’s public remarks about Kant and the Ukraine war.
• The core dispute is whether Alikhanov was criticizing Kant directly or criticizing the misuse of Kantian ethics.
• Žižek challenges the idea that the West is defined only by utilitarian pragmatism and hypocrisy.
• The piece links philosophy, political rhetoric, and civilizational conflict in a single debate.
• A recurring question is whether public claims should be read literally, ironically, or strategically.