Alain Badiou

Looks at the theory of materialistic dialect and the understanding of logic, being, and appearing.

"France's leading philosopher gives a powerful account of our obligations to migrants"--

L'infini est une notion qui peut être religieuse (Dieu est infini), mathématique (il existe un calcul de l'infini), physique (l'univers est-il infini ?), et qui est aussi, bien sûr, une idée philosophique. Depuis très longtemps, la discussion est la suivante : l'homme est fini, puisqu'il meurt ; comment un être fini peut-il comprendre ce qui est infini ?--

"In this innovative reimagining of Plato's work, Badiou has removed all references specfic to ancient Greek society--from lengthy exchanges about moral courage in archaic poetry to political considerations mainly of interest to the aristocratic elite and has expanded the range of cultural references. Here, philosophy is firing on all cylinders: Socrates and his companions are joined by Beckett, Pessoa, Freud, and Hegel, among others. Together these thinkers demonstrate that true philosophy endures, ready to absorb new horizons without changing its essence."--Provided by publisher.

Responding to Tarby's questions, Badiou explores the four conditions of philosophy.

""Polemics" is a series of brilliant metapolitical reflections, demolishing established opinion and dominant propaganda, and reorienting our understanding of events from the Kosovo and Iraq wars to the Paris Commune and the Cultural Revolution. With critical insight and polemical skill, Badiou considers how language becomes judgment, which judgments form opinion, how opinions harden into propaganda, and which propaganda becomes the dominant power. With wit and profundity, Badiou presents a series of radical philosophical engagements with politics, and questions what constitutes political truth."--Jacket.

"This is a unique collection presenting work by Alain Badiou and commentaries on his philosophical theories. It includes three lectures by Badiou, on contemporary politics, the infinite, cinema and theatre and two extensive interviews with Badiou -- one concerning the state of the contemporary situation and one wide ranging interview on all facets of his work and engagements. It also includes six interventions on aspects of Badiou's work by established scholars in the field, addressing his concept of history, Lacan, Cinema, poetry, and feminism; and four original essays by young and established scholars in Australia and New Zealand addressing the key concerns of Badiou's 2015 visit to the Antipodal region and the work he presented there. With new material by Badiou previously unpublished in English this volume is a valuable overview of his recent thinking. Critical responses by distinguished and gifted Badiou scholars writing outside of the European context make this text essential reading for anyone interested in the development and contemporary reception of Badiou's thought."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

The notion of ‘the end’ has long occupied philosophical thought. In light of the horrors of the twentieth century, some writers have gone so far as to declare the end of philosophy itself, emphasizing the impossibility of thinking after Auschwitz. In this book the distinguished philosopher Alain Badiou, in dialogue with Giovanbattista Tusa, argues that we must renounce ‘the pathos of completion’ and continue to think philosophically. To accept the atrocities of the twentieth century as marking the end of philosophy is intolerable precisely because it buys into the totalizing doctrines of the perpetrators. Badiou contends that philosophical thinking is needed now more than ever to counter the totalizing effects of globalized capitalism, which prescribes no objective for human life other than integration into its system, giving rise to a widespread sense of hopelessness and nihilism.

"Alain Badiou, France's leading radical theorist and commentator, dissects the Sarkozy phenomenon in this sharp, focused intervention. He argues that the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President does not necessarily signal a crucial turning point in French politics, nor require a further rightward move from competing electoral forces. To understand the significance of Sarkozy, we have to look beyond the right-wing populism and vulgarity of the man himself, and ask what he represents: a reactionary tradition that goes back to the early nineteenth century, a tradition based on fear. Badiou argues that to escape from the atmosphere of depression and anxiety that currently envelops the Left, we need to cast aside the slavish worship of electoral democracy. In a characteristically doughty and wide-ranging conclusion, Alain Badiou maps out a 'communist hypothesis' that can lay the basis for a genuine emancipatory politics in the twenty-first century."--Jacket.

"The history of humanity has only just begun. The Neolithic Revolution may have endowed us with unparalleled means of communication, subsistence and knowledge acquisition. However, it is clear in today's world that inequality, power hierarchies, and violence persist on a greater scale than ever before. In these two lectures ... Alain Badiou argues that we are still firmly rooted in the Neolithic era, subjugated by the structures of political power - property, family, and state. He calls for a second revolution to restore to each person their freedom and agency. Through an analysis of recent attempts at political organizations, including the Arab Spring, Occupy and Nuit debout, Badiou shows that progress toward this goal will only be achieved through an emphasis on sameness, not difference."--Back cover.

"English-speaking readers might be surprised to learn that Alain Badiou writes fiction and plays along with his philosophical works and that they are just as important to understanding his larger intellectual project. In Ahmed the Philosopher, Badiou's most entertaining and accessible play, translated into English here for the first time, readers are introduced to Badiou's philosophy through a theatrical tour de force that has met with much success in France. Ahmed the Philosopher presents its comic hero, the "treacherous servant" Ahmed, as a seductively trenchant philosopher even as it casts philosophy itself as a comic performance. The comedy unfolds as a series of lessons, with each "short play" or sketch illuminating a different Badiousian concept. Yet Ahmed does more than illustrate philosophical abstractions; he embodies and vivifies the theatrical and performative aspects of philosophy, mobilizing a comic energy that exposes the emptiness and pomp of the world. Through his example, the audience is moved to a living engagement with philosophy, discovering in it the power to break through the limits of everyday life." -- from back cover.