so I have been asked to provide a very
short introduction to the works of the
leading French philosopher and the
leading philosopher of our times
Alain Badiou. Alain Badiou is also by
comrade and I had the opportunity to
discuss his work in his presence one in
Grand Rapids Michigan so I will draw up
on what I said already about his work
today and this introduction will be a
relatively short one I should have a
point all rather emphatically that my
short introduction can by no means do
justice to the richness and rigor and
range Badiou's works staggering as they
are in fact I can't think of any
contemporary philosopher who can match
up to Badiou's depth of argument and
reference and to his unusual abilities
to engage issues crucial and critical
devote analytic and continental
philosophy in fact values work
Marx to use his own words from his major
work or being an event I quote the
nullity of the opposition between
analytical thought and continental
thought novelist and playwright and
teacher and vertigo gist and political
activist but fundamentally a philosopher
a militant philosopher for that matter
committed as he is to the restoring what
he himself calls I quote philosophy
itself unquote to its proper place
without however putting philosophy on a
pedestal and committed as he is to the
politics of the emancipation of humanity
in its entirety by the you meanwhile has
influenced our way
your fields and disciplines across the
world body commentators Ajay Bhatt --let
and Justin Clements had already provided
a list of some of those areas which are
I quote contemporary philosophy
psychoanalysis ontology history history
of philosophy history and philosophy of
science film studies art history theater
studies political philosophy and even
geography and so on
unquote one can surely add theology to
this list
indeed budgets work has emerged out of
is engaged and confrontational and
critical responses to quite a
constellation of the post-war figures of
philosophy such as Jacques Lacan novel
shocked Louis Althusser Jean Francois
Europe are as you deluge Michel Foucault
as Jacques Derrida among others in the
French context while but you has also
confronted the figures of the Anglophone
analytic tradition such as liqui quickl
stein w between richard rorty donald
davidson
and others then of course we have his
critical engagements including both
tensions and transactions with the major
canonical figures of philosophy in the
Western world
say from Descartes Spinoza delight needs
to count to Hegel to hustle to Heidegger
but in the beginning is Plato one who
gave mathematics and ontological billing
and one with whom but use all
engagements have led to reduce by now
famous doctrine of the poor conditions
of philosophy a script procedures that
include science
that is set theory are especially if not
exclusively poetry from hölderlin to
mallarme to Kalon politics in a new
Marxist mode influenced by may 68
earlier than that nots Lenin and Mao
themselves and love as conceptualized by
Lacan you know well that value call
silicon our our hero
that is Hegel for the French Marxists
and we can call Bob you our Plato as it
is well known now module himself
designates his work as a I quote
platonism of the multiple uncle but by
bringing up the very question of the
multiple but you also marks a
significant departure from Plato himself
now let me let me let me return to body
sir Whitney work but I don't have the
time to go into the details of even a
few of his major works his watson
numerous as they've already pointed out
his three major wats include theory of
the subject which appeared in english
translation in 2009 being an event which
appeared in english translation again in
2005 and logic sub words appearing in
2009 this other words in order of the
year of the publication in english
translation include manifesto for
philosophy deluge the clamor of being
ethics an essay on the understanding of
evil on Beckett st. Paul the
foundational foundation of universalism
handbook of in aesthetics meta politics
the century politics
number and numbers the communist
hypothesis second manifesto for
philosophy the rational kernel of the
Hegelian dialectic in praise of love the
revolt of history philosophy for
militants Alma the philosopher 32 plays
for children and etc etc in fact I can
go on and on mentioning his written
works but I got to stop for I have not
yet even mentioned his articles and
essays numerous as they are but I think
I would do well to say a few words about
the three major works I already
mentioned theory of the subject being an
event and logics of worlds these three
works while offering body's own key
concepts such as the subject truth being
event and conditions among others of
course have simply revolutionized the
study of philosophy itself while value
in fact while value does exemplifies his
courage and commitment and conviction
and compassion all at once as for the
theory of the subject it is arguably
body's most creative and most passionate
book as universe feels ardently but
rightly asserts the work in question
lays many of the foundations for his
magnum opus being an event and it's
follow-up logics of words
as for being an event a groundbreaking
innovative intervention in the history
of European philosophy
people often these days compare this
book being an event to socks being and
nothingness and hydrators being and time
the body is neither long South Korean la
soie trium neither non-hydrogen nor hi
Gilligan
her body like his protagonist Ahmed in
his play in values comic play called
Arnett the philosopher diagonal as
diagonalizes diagonalizes in fact in
many case in any case mobilizing very
sophisticated mathematical apparatus
that is set theory being an event an axe
and establishes body's major thesis that
I quote mathematics is ontology while
fully developing his theory of the event
the event being a rupture opening up
truths in his logic sub walls the
subtitle is being an event to bubble
returns to among other things the
question of dialectics which is major
work being an event some odd site steps
and review offers us is innovative
version of the dialectic namely a
materialist dialectic as opposed to
what's called democratic materialism
well Bob you passionately urges us to I
could learn for the idea on gold well
going to time constraints I cannot say
much about bodies work as a political
activist something that I intend to
explore on another occasion but let me
say a few words about his political
activist work
Badu has had substantial experiences of
doing party politics and
organizational politics while moving
away from the idea of the priority to
that of the organization repeatedly
holding that every emancipatory politics
must be organized as a Maoist but you
found it to Marxist parties in France
while later propounding an organization
called organisation politic now to speak
of body is to speak of the politics of
equality and emancipation and to speak
above use the speaker is absolutely
unwavering opposition do today's corrupt
democracy and to what he calls capital o
parliamentarism and to speak about you
is to speak of how his theoretical anti
humanism ends up serving a practical
humanism and to speak above use to speak
of course the idea of communism at this
violent bloody and heavily crisis-ridden
conjuncture well I'm towards the end of
my introduction but a few words about
one unique philosophical question that
body opposes a question that interests
me a great deal so you cook body you
then I coat my unique philosophical
question I would say is the following
you can really think that there is
something new in the situation not the
new outside the situation not be new
somewhere else but can we really think
of novelty and trick it in the situation
the system of philosophically answers
that are I elaborate whatever is
complexity may be is subordinated to no
other unquote that was what you about
his own unique philosophy collection I
should end here and here thank you all
for less
