Considerant’s failure with his colony at La Reunion is addressed at several levels, where the facts pertaining to Considerant’s personal trajectory, his acceptation of Fourier’s system of destinies, and the fate of utopias in general repeatedly collide. Using the image of the Indian as an imaginary red thread, the purpose of this paper is to define the conditions making possible a concrete achievement. Taking failure as a starting point means to try and understand its causes, endeavouring at the same time not to repeat them. One of the most remarkable aspects of this experience was its anticipation of the theoretical depreciation of space. However surprising this might sound, especially today when space seems to have become a well-appreciated object of theory, it nevertheless was an actual attempt. This leads us to the following insight for the present time : how can one think while simultaneously neutralizing space.

Louis Ucciani enseigne la philosophie à l’Université de Franche-Comté. Il collabore depuis leur création aux Cahiers Charles Fourier. Ses axes de recherche récents interrogent la genèse et la structure de l’art contemporain. Il a notamment publié Charles Fourier ou la peur de la raison (Paris, Kimé, 2000) ou encore de Saint-Augustin ou le livre du Moi (1998). Dernier ouvrage paru : Le geste du peintre (2003).