Christopher Watkin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640577
- eISBN:
- 9780748671793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640577.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter sets forth and critiques Alain Badiou’s account of the death of the God of metaphysics, setting it alongside Jean-Luc Nancy’s critique of the metaphysics of the death of God. Whereas, ...
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This chapter sets forth and critiques Alain Badiou’s account of the death of the God of metaphysics, setting it alongside Jean-Luc Nancy’s critique of the metaphysics of the death of God. Whereas, for Badiou, we do not have the means to be atheist so long as the theme of finitude governs our thinking, Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity questions Badiou’s recourse to the infinite in his account of the birth of philosophy as what Nancy calls a ‘Christmas projection’. The Badiouian actual infinite and Nancy’s finite thinking present two different ways of seeking to move beyond the poles of imitative and residual atheism. This difference raises the question of the coexistence of plural atheisms.Less
This chapter sets forth and critiques Alain Badiou’s account of the death of the God of metaphysics, setting it alongside Jean-Luc Nancy’s critique of the metaphysics of the death of God. Whereas, for Badiou, we do not have the means to be atheist so long as the theme of finitude governs our thinking, Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity questions Badiou’s recourse to the infinite in his account of the birth of philosophy as what Nancy calls a ‘Christmas projection’. The Badiouian actual infinite and Nancy’s finite thinking present two different ways of seeking to move beyond the poles of imitative and residual atheism. This difference raises the question of the coexistence of plural atheisms.
Martin Puchner
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730322
- eISBN:
- 9780199852796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730322.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
The influence of Plato on modern philosophy is immense. Through his dramatic writing, he is a constant reminder of the tangible, the personal, and the concrete. This chapter advocates a way of ...
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The influence of Plato on modern philosophy is immense. Through his dramatic writing, he is a constant reminder of the tangible, the personal, and the concrete. This chapter advocates a way of rethinking Plato in modern times through a discussion of contemporary Platonism. This objective is attained by presenting a number of contemporary philosophers who are self-declared Platonists. This chapter discusses in detail three Platonists that were inclined towards dramatic Platonism: Iris Murdoch and her critique of language philosophy and relativism, Martha Nussbaum and her program that accords intelligence to emotions and envisions the work of emotions as some kind of Platonist ascent, and Alain Badiou and his approach to dramatic Platonism with continental philosophy.Less
The influence of Plato on modern philosophy is immense. Through his dramatic writing, he is a constant reminder of the tangible, the personal, and the concrete. This chapter advocates a way of rethinking Plato in modern times through a discussion of contemporary Platonism. This objective is attained by presenting a number of contemporary philosophers who are self-declared Platonists. This chapter discusses in detail three Platonists that were inclined towards dramatic Platonism: Iris Murdoch and her critique of language philosophy and relativism, Martha Nussbaum and her program that accords intelligence to emotions and envisions the work of emotions as some kind of Platonist ascent, and Alain Badiou and his approach to dramatic Platonism with continental philosophy.
Saul Newman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748634958
- eISBN:
- 9780748652846
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748634958.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter takes up this notion of politics outside the state, showing the relevance of this idea to continental radical thought today and situating anarchism within debates among continental ...
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This chapter takes up this notion of politics outside the state, showing the relevance of this idea to continental radical thought today and situating anarchism within debates among continental thinkers such as Alain Badiou, Jacques Ranciére, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri. It shows that many of the themes and preoccupations of these thinkers reflect an unacknowledged anarchism. The chapter also shows that anarchism can make important interventions around these questions, and argues that radical politics today should be conceived of in terms of rupture with the existing order, rather than emerging as an immanent dimension within it. However, the politics of the ‘event’, which this notion of rupture implies, should be conceived of in ways that avoid the violent, terroristic, and potentially authoritarian revolutionary forms of the past.Less
This chapter takes up this notion of politics outside the state, showing the relevance of this idea to continental radical thought today and situating anarchism within debates among continental thinkers such as Alain Badiou, Jacques Ranciére, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri. It shows that many of the themes and preoccupations of these thinkers reflect an unacknowledged anarchism. The chapter also shows that anarchism can make important interventions around these questions, and argues that radical politics today should be conceived of in terms of rupture with the existing order, rather than emerging as an immanent dimension within it. However, the politics of the ‘event’, which this notion of rupture implies, should be conceived of in ways that avoid the violent, terroristic, and potentially authoritarian revolutionary forms of the past.
Benjamin Noys
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638635
- eISBN:
- 9780748671915
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638635.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter re-reads the work of Alain Badiou as a probing of the problem of negativity. Tracing the history of Badiou’s political involvement in the radical Maoist formations of the 1970s suggests ...
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This chapter re-reads the work of Alain Badiou as a probing of the problem of negativity. Tracing the history of Badiou’s political involvement in the radical Maoist formations of the 1970s suggests how he tries to articulate a politics of destruction and subtraction. Turning to Badiou’s more recent work on formalising the logic of negation the chapter traces inconsistency in the attempt to subordinate negation to affirmation. Probing Badiou’s dismissal of certain radical forms of politics as forms of nihilism the chapter closes with a consideration, prompted by Badiou, of the Western as an aesthetic form able to convey a sense of political courage. Against his explicit intentions, Badiou’s work gives a sense of what it might mean to depart from the ‘affirmationist consensus’, and the possibilities of an alternative form of political negativity.Less
This chapter re-reads the work of Alain Badiou as a probing of the problem of negativity. Tracing the history of Badiou’s political involvement in the radical Maoist formations of the 1970s suggests how he tries to articulate a politics of destruction and subtraction. Turning to Badiou’s more recent work on formalising the logic of negation the chapter traces inconsistency in the attempt to subordinate negation to affirmation. Probing Badiou’s dismissal of certain radical forms of politics as forms of nihilism the chapter closes with a consideration, prompted by Badiou, of the Western as an aesthetic form able to convey a sense of political courage. Against his explicit intentions, Badiou’s work gives a sense of what it might mean to depart from the ‘affirmationist consensus’, and the possibilities of an alternative form of political negativity.
Alex Ling
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641130
- eISBN:
- 9780748652631
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641130.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter offers a brief introduction to Alain Badiou's philosophy. It highlights the crucial role of ‘conditioning’ and discusses Badiou's concept of ‘inaesthetics’, or his approach to art, which ...
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This chapter offers a brief introduction to Alain Badiou's philosophy. It highlights the crucial role of ‘conditioning’ and discusses Badiou's concept of ‘inaesthetics’, or his approach to art, which treats it as a condition of philosophy. The chapter analyses Badiou's major works including L'Etre et l'événement and proposes more cogent hypotheses as to why Badiou escaped Anglophone attention for so long.Less
This chapter offers a brief introduction to Alain Badiou's philosophy. It highlights the crucial role of ‘conditioning’ and discusses Badiou's concept of ‘inaesthetics’, or his approach to art, which treats it as a condition of philosophy. The chapter analyses Badiou's major works including L'Etre et l'événement and proposes more cogent hypotheses as to why Badiou escaped Anglophone attention for so long.
Oliver Marchart
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748624973
- eISBN:
- 9780748672066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748624973.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter traces Alain Badiou's attitude to and his role within current political philosophy. It argues that Badiou can legitimately be located within the group of post-foundational theorists ...
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This chapter traces Alain Badiou's attitude to and his role within current political philosophy. It argues that Badiou can legitimately be located within the group of post-foundational theorists whose work can be labelled the ‘Heideggerian Left’ in current political philosophy. Yet it also shows that the post-foundational effects of his theory are limited because of some foundationalist injunctions on Badiou's part, which find expression in a certain philosophism and a particular form of ethicism — a side-effect of his deliberate denigration of political philosophy. In French post-war thought, the traces of Martin Heidegger's influence on Badiou remain visible even where they are openly disavowed. This chapter explores Badiou's views about the state and the politics of truth, focusing on equality and justice. After discussing the concept of post-foundationalism and real politics, it considers contingency and foundationalism as well as the danger of ethicism.Less
This chapter traces Alain Badiou's attitude to and his role within current political philosophy. It argues that Badiou can legitimately be located within the group of post-foundational theorists whose work can be labelled the ‘Heideggerian Left’ in current political philosophy. Yet it also shows that the post-foundational effects of his theory are limited because of some foundationalist injunctions on Badiou's part, which find expression in a certain philosophism and a particular form of ethicism — a side-effect of his deliberate denigration of political philosophy. In French post-war thought, the traces of Martin Heidegger's influence on Badiou remain visible even where they are openly disavowed. This chapter explores Badiou's views about the state and the politics of truth, focusing on equality and justice. After discussing the concept of post-foundationalism and real politics, it considers contingency and foundationalism as well as the danger of ethicism.
Jean-Jacques Lecercle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638000
- eISBN:
- 9780748652648
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638000.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter examines the exchange of insults between Alain Badiou and Gilles Deleuze during 1976, when the former was still a young lecturer at the philosophy department of the University of ...
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This chapter examines the exchange of insults between Alain Badiou and Gilles Deleuze during 1976, when the former was still a young lecturer at the philosophy department of the University of Vincennes in Paris and the latter was already a full professor. Badiou called Deleuze a fascist, and in return Deleuze called him a bolshevik. The chapter explains that Badiou's insult was provoked by the success of Deleuze's Anti-Oedipus and the recent publication of Rhizome, which was later included as the introduction to A Thousand Plateaus. It also analyses Badiou and Deleuze's conception of the term disjunctive synthesis.Less
This chapter examines the exchange of insults between Alain Badiou and Gilles Deleuze during 1976, when the former was still a young lecturer at the philosophy department of the University of Vincennes in Paris and the latter was already a full professor. Badiou called Deleuze a fascist, and in return Deleuze called him a bolshevik. The chapter explains that Badiou's insult was provoked by the success of Deleuze's Anti-Oedipus and the recent publication of Rhizome, which was later included as the introduction to A Thousand Plateaus. It also analyses Badiou and Deleuze's conception of the term disjunctive synthesis.
Robert Boncardo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474429528
- eISBN:
- 9781474445092
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474429528.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This third chapter tracks Alain Badiou’s reading of Mallarmé, beginning with his extensive treatment of the poet in his first and most politically-committed work, Theory of the Subject, where ...
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This third chapter tracks Alain Badiou’s reading of Mallarmé, beginning with his extensive treatment of the poet in his first and most politically-committed work, Theory of the Subject, where Mallarmé figures as a liminal figure: an ingenious political conservative whose insights need to be integrated yet surpassed by Badiou, the political radical. The chapter then turns to Badiou’s post-Being and Event work and offers a close reading of the latter book’s treatment of Mallarmé before investigating Mallarmé’s political significance for Badiou in this second stage of his philosophical career. Through a reading of Badiou’s polemic with Czeslaw Milosz in Handbook of Inaesthetics, the chapter argues that Mallarmé becomes an unequivocal comrade for Badiou in his post-Being and Event period: a resolute egalitarian who points the way towards the advent of a generic humanity.Less
This third chapter tracks Alain Badiou’s reading of Mallarmé, beginning with his extensive treatment of the poet in his first and most politically-committed work, Theory of the Subject, where Mallarmé figures as a liminal figure: an ingenious political conservative whose insights need to be integrated yet surpassed by Badiou, the political radical. The chapter then turns to Badiou’s post-Being and Event work and offers a close reading of the latter book’s treatment of Mallarmé before investigating Mallarmé’s political significance for Badiou in this second stage of his philosophical career. Through a reading of Badiou’s polemic with Czeslaw Milosz in Handbook of Inaesthetics, the chapter argues that Mallarmé becomes an unequivocal comrade for Badiou in his post-Being and Event period: a resolute egalitarian who points the way towards the advent of a generic humanity.
Alex Ling
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641130
- eISBN:
- 9780748652631
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641130.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This book offers an in-depth examination of cinema and its philosophical significance. It employs the philosophy of Alain Badiou to answer the question central to all serious film scholarship – ...
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This book offers an in-depth examination of cinema and its philosophical significance. It employs the philosophy of Alain Badiou to answer the question central to all serious film scholarship – namely, ‘can cinema be thought?’ Treating this question on three levels, the author first asks if we can really think what cinema is, at an ontological level. Second, he investigates whether cinema can actually think for itself; that is, whether or not it is truly ‘artistic’. Finally, the author explores in what ways we can rethink the consequences of the fact that cinema thinks. In answering these questions, he uses well-known films ranging from Hiroshima mon amour to Vertigo to The Matrix to illustrate Badiou's philosophy, as well as to consider the ways in which his work can be extended, critiqued and reframed with respect to the medium of cinema.Less
This book offers an in-depth examination of cinema and its philosophical significance. It employs the philosophy of Alain Badiou to answer the question central to all serious film scholarship – namely, ‘can cinema be thought?’ Treating this question on three levels, the author first asks if we can really think what cinema is, at an ontological level. Second, he investigates whether cinema can actually think for itself; that is, whether or not it is truly ‘artistic’. Finally, the author explores in what ways we can rethink the consequences of the fact that cinema thinks. In answering these questions, he uses well-known films ranging from Hiroshima mon amour to Vertigo to The Matrix to illustrate Badiou's philosophy, as well as to consider the ways in which his work can be extended, critiqued and reframed with respect to the medium of cinema.
Hollis Phelps
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823251551
- eISBN:
- 9780823252985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823251551.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This paper attempts to develop a theopoetic reading of Alain Badiou's philosophy, particularly in regards to the role that nomination plays in his four truth procedures. The first section of this ...
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This paper attempts to develop a theopoetic reading of Alain Badiou's philosophy, particularly in regards to the role that nomination plays in his four truth procedures. The first section of this chapter provides a brief overview of the basic aspects of Badiou's philosophy, with particular emphasis given to the disjunction he posits between mathematics and poetics, which effectively bans all poetic utterance from ontology. The second part examines in more detail the role of poetics in Badiou's philosophy. Working on the assumption that it is necessary to interrelate Badiou's four truth procedures and from his own claim that the naming of events is always poetic, this chapter argues that Badiou's philosophy, including his ontology, contains an irreducible theopoetic element. The third and concluding section of this paper attempts to draw out the implications of this reading of Badiou, by bringing it into dialogue with Whitehead's view of poetics.Less
This paper attempts to develop a theopoetic reading of Alain Badiou's philosophy, particularly in regards to the role that nomination plays in his four truth procedures. The first section of this chapter provides a brief overview of the basic aspects of Badiou's philosophy, with particular emphasis given to the disjunction he posits between mathematics and poetics, which effectively bans all poetic utterance from ontology. The second part examines in more detail the role of poetics in Badiou's philosophy. Working on the assumption that it is necessary to interrelate Badiou's four truth procedures and from his own claim that the naming of events is always poetic, this chapter argues that Badiou's philosophy, including his ontology, contains an irreducible theopoetic element. The third and concluding section of this paper attempts to draw out the implications of this reading of Badiou, by bringing it into dialogue with Whitehead's view of poetics.
Oliver Marchart
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748624973
- eISBN:
- 9780748672066
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748624973.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This book, a wide-ranging overview of the emergence of post-foundationalism and a survey of the work of its key contemporary exponents, presents the first systematic coverage of the conceptual ...
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This book, a wide-ranging overview of the emergence of post-foundationalism and a survey of the work of its key contemporary exponents, presents the first systematic coverage of the conceptual difference between ‘politics’ (the practice of conventional politics: the political system or political forms of action) and ‘the political’ (a much more radical aspect which cannot be restricted to the realms of institutional politics). It is also an introductory overview of post-foundationalism and the tradition of ‘left Heideggerianism’: the political thought of contemporary theorists who make frequent use of the idea of political difference: Jean-Luc Nancy, Claude Lefort, Alain Badiou and Ernesto Laclau. After an overview of current trends in social post-foundationalism and a genealogical chapter on the historical emergence of the difference between the concepts of ‘politics’ and ‘the political’, the work of individual theorists is presented and discussed at length. Individual chapters are presented on the political thought of Jean-Luc Nancy (including Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe), Claude Lefort, Alain Badiou, and Ernesto Laclau (including Chantal Mouffe). Overall, the book offers an elaboration of the idea of a post-foundational conception of politics.Less
This book, a wide-ranging overview of the emergence of post-foundationalism and a survey of the work of its key contemporary exponents, presents the first systematic coverage of the conceptual difference between ‘politics’ (the practice of conventional politics: the political system or political forms of action) and ‘the political’ (a much more radical aspect which cannot be restricted to the realms of institutional politics). It is also an introductory overview of post-foundationalism and the tradition of ‘left Heideggerianism’: the political thought of contemporary theorists who make frequent use of the idea of political difference: Jean-Luc Nancy, Claude Lefort, Alain Badiou and Ernesto Laclau. After an overview of current trends in social post-foundationalism and a genealogical chapter on the historical emergence of the difference between the concepts of ‘politics’ and ‘the political’, the work of individual theorists is presented and discussed at length. Individual chapters are presented on the political thought of Jean-Luc Nancy (including Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe), Claude Lefort, Alain Badiou, and Ernesto Laclau (including Chantal Mouffe). Overall, the book offers an elaboration of the idea of a post-foundational conception of politics.
Christopher Watkin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640577
- eISBN:
- 9780748671793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640577.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
For Badiou, the god of the poets is the most tenacious of deities. The poetic principle of the enchanted world, this god is neither dead nor alive but rather withdrawn. Badiou identifies the ...
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For Badiou, the god of the poets is the most tenacious of deities. The poetic principle of the enchanted world, this god is neither dead nor alive but rather withdrawn. Badiou identifies the peculiarly Romantic open infinite and the motif of incarnation as the twin characteristics of this god. Nancy, though he shares this characterisation of the god of the poets, addresses them differently. Seeking most keenly to avoid an ascetic atheism, Badiou affirms a conception of poetry in terms of the Idea, whereas Nancy, more wary of the danger of parasitic atheism, rewrites the open and incarnation in terms of singular plural sharing and the double gesture of the deconstruction of Christianity.Less
For Badiou, the god of the poets is the most tenacious of deities. The poetic principle of the enchanted world, this god is neither dead nor alive but rather withdrawn. Badiou identifies the peculiarly Romantic open infinite and the motif of incarnation as the twin characteristics of this god. Nancy, though he shares this characterisation of the god of the poets, addresses them differently. Seeking most keenly to avoid an ascetic atheism, Badiou affirms a conception of poetry in terms of the Idea, whereas Nancy, more wary of the danger of parasitic atheism, rewrites the open and incarnation in terms of singular plural sharing and the double gesture of the deconstruction of Christianity.
Jean-Jacques Lecercle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638000
- eISBN:
- 9780748652648
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638000.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter examines Alain Badiou's reading of the works of Stéphane Mallarmé. It explains that in the very first pages of Logic of Worlds, Badiou called Mallarmé his master and claimed that his ...
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This chapter examines Alain Badiou's reading of the works of Stéphane Mallarmé. It explains that in the very first pages of Logic of Worlds, Badiou called Mallarmé his master and claimed that his first philosophical proposition was formulated in Mallarmean style. The chapter discusses the reasons behind Badiou's interest in Mallarmé and evaluates Mallarmé's influence on the philosophical style of Badiou.Less
This chapter examines Alain Badiou's reading of the works of Stéphane Mallarmé. It explains that in the very first pages of Logic of Worlds, Badiou called Mallarmé his master and claimed that his first philosophical proposition was formulated in Mallarmean style. The chapter discusses the reasons behind Badiou's interest in Mallarmé and evaluates Mallarmé's influence on the philosophical style of Badiou.
Alexander Dunst
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781496802217
- eISBN:
- 9781496802262
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496802217.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, Comics Studies
Alexander Dunst draws on the philosophy of Alain Badiou to chart an important shift from Sacco’s first long-form works of comics journalism--namely, Palestine and Safe Area Goražde--to the more ...
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Alexander Dunst draws on the philosophy of Alain Badiou to chart an important shift from Sacco’s first long-form works of comics journalism--namely, Palestine and Safe Area Goražde--to the more recent Footnotes in Gaza. In Footnotes in Gaza, Dunst finds a shift away from ethics and toward a political aesthetic.Less
Alexander Dunst draws on the philosophy of Alain Badiou to chart an important shift from Sacco’s first long-form works of comics journalism--namely, Palestine and Safe Area Goražde--to the more recent Footnotes in Gaza. In Footnotes in Gaza, Dunst finds a shift away from ethics and toward a political aesthetic.
Christopher Watkin
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474414739
- eISBN:
- 9781474422338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474414739.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter probes the limits of Badiou’s “formalised inhumanism”, arguing that it is wrong to characterise the figure of the human that emerges in Badiou’s thought as radically new. For both Badiou ...
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This chapter probes the limits of Badiou’s “formalised inhumanism”, arguing that it is wrong to characterise the figure of the human that emerges in Badiou’s thought as radically new. For both Badiou and his antagonists the human is irreducibly composite: it cannot be what it is without a constitutive relation to an instance of inhumanity or non-humanity outside itself. Badiou’s split anthropology of the “human animal” and the “immortal” faces a major structural and ethical problem, arising from the way in which he seeks to understand the relation between the animal and immortal: he makes fidelity to a truth, and therefore humanity in its full sense, contingent upon an individual’s possession of the capacity for affirmative thought. Such thought functions for Badiou as a ‘host capacity’, a boundary marker of the uniqueness of humanity among animal, organic and non-organic entities. Despite exploring several creative ways to overcome the problems caused by this ‘host capacity’ account of humanity, the chapter concludes that it casts a shadow over his claim that “several times in its brief existence, every human animal is granted the chance to incorporate itself into the subjective present of a truth”.Less
This chapter probes the limits of Badiou’s “formalised inhumanism”, arguing that it is wrong to characterise the figure of the human that emerges in Badiou’s thought as radically new. For both Badiou and his antagonists the human is irreducibly composite: it cannot be what it is without a constitutive relation to an instance of inhumanity or non-humanity outside itself. Badiou’s split anthropology of the “human animal” and the “immortal” faces a major structural and ethical problem, arising from the way in which he seeks to understand the relation between the animal and immortal: he makes fidelity to a truth, and therefore humanity in its full sense, contingent upon an individual’s possession of the capacity for affirmative thought. Such thought functions for Badiou as a ‘host capacity’, a boundary marker of the uniqueness of humanity among animal, organic and non-organic entities. Despite exploring several creative ways to overcome the problems caused by this ‘host capacity’ account of humanity, the chapter concludes that it casts a shadow over his claim that “several times in its brief existence, every human animal is granted the chance to incorporate itself into the subjective present of a truth”.
Maurice Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226397054
- eISBN:
- 9780226399324
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226399324.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Chapter Seven explores the emergence of a hardline form of universalism, opposed to minority difference, in contemporary debates over Muslim integration, and especially in discourse concerning the ...
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Chapter Seven explores the emergence of a hardline form of universalism, opposed to minority difference, in contemporary debates over Muslim integration, and especially in discourse concerning the rise of Muslim violence against Jews since 2000. Both sides in this debate—those who call attention to the crisis of the “new antisemitism” such as Alain Finkielkraut, and those who denounce the rhetoric of crisis as a diversion meant to distract from the Israel-Palestine conflict, such as Alain Badiou—attempt to position themselves as universalists by denouncing their opponents as “communitarian." This chapter asks what this return to a highly rigid form of universalism means for the possibility of minority integration and for inter-communal dialogue.Less
Chapter Seven explores the emergence of a hardline form of universalism, opposed to minority difference, in contemporary debates over Muslim integration, and especially in discourse concerning the rise of Muslim violence against Jews since 2000. Both sides in this debate—those who call attention to the crisis of the “new antisemitism” such as Alain Finkielkraut, and those who denounce the rhetoric of crisis as a diversion meant to distract from the Israel-Palestine conflict, such as Alain Badiou—attempt to position themselves as universalists by denouncing their opponents as “communitarian." This chapter asks what this return to a highly rigid form of universalism means for the possibility of minority integration and for inter-communal dialogue.
Alex Ling
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641130
- eISBN:
- 9780748652631
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641130.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter investigates the relation of Alain Badiou's philosophy of cinema to that of Gilles Deleuze, reconsidering how space and time operate in cinema, whereby cinema figures as an art whose ...
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This chapter investigates the relation of Alain Badiou's philosophy of cinema to that of Gilles Deleuze, reconsidering how space and time operate in cinema, whereby cinema figures as an art whose foremost concerns lie with disappearance and re-temporalisation. It highlights Badiou's recognition of the problem that the visual arts present to philosophy and discusses Deleuze's opinion that cinema-ideas are irreducible to any communication, where communication is understood as the transmission and propagation of information.Less
This chapter investigates the relation of Alain Badiou's philosophy of cinema to that of Gilles Deleuze, reconsidering how space and time operate in cinema, whereby cinema figures as an art whose foremost concerns lie with disappearance and re-temporalisation. It highlights Badiou's recognition of the problem that the visual arts present to philosophy and discusses Deleuze's opinion that cinema-ideas are irreducible to any communication, where communication is understood as the transmission and propagation of information.
Adrian May
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786940438
- eISBN:
- 9781789629118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786940438.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter charts the political responses of Lignes in the new millennium, as securitisation methods, crises and states of exception replaced consensual liberalism as the dominant modes of ...
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This chapter charts the political responses of Lignes in the new millennium, as securitisation methods, crises and states of exception replaced consensual liberalism as the dominant modes of governance after 9/11. Rather than the review’s normal pessimistic stance, a reshuffled editorial board instead emphasised the need to reconstruct active, political agency to resist the governments of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. An issue devoted to the militant Trotskyist David Rousset set the tone at the start of the new millennium, as Rousset’s experience in combatting concentration camps prompted the review to investigate the controversial use of migrant retention centres on French soil and theories of the State of Exception between Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben. New routes to active political agency are then produced, firstly via Jacques Ranciere’s account of the eruption of new political voices and sans papiers activism. Lastly, Alain Badiou’s emphasis on extra-parliamentary politics the Idea of Communism is contrasted to Daniel Bensaïd’s stress on the need for a new, militant political party in the run-up to the 2012 presidential elections.Less
This chapter charts the political responses of Lignes in the new millennium, as securitisation methods, crises and states of exception replaced consensual liberalism as the dominant modes of governance after 9/11. Rather than the review’s normal pessimistic stance, a reshuffled editorial board instead emphasised the need to reconstruct active, political agency to resist the governments of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. An issue devoted to the militant Trotskyist David Rousset set the tone at the start of the new millennium, as Rousset’s experience in combatting concentration camps prompted the review to investigate the controversial use of migrant retention centres on French soil and theories of the State of Exception between Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben. New routes to active political agency are then produced, firstly via Jacques Ranciere’s account of the eruption of new political voices and sans papiers activism. Lastly, Alain Badiou’s emphasis on extra-parliamentary politics the Idea of Communism is contrasted to Daniel Bensaïd’s stress on the need for a new, militant political party in the run-up to the 2012 presidential elections.
Irving Goh
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823262687
- eISBN:
- 9780823266371
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823262687.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter moves forward in time to the contemporary “postsecular” condition, which has witnessed the militant rise of local religions in a world that has supposedly become-reason. It brings to ...
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This chapter moves forward in time to the contemporary “postsecular” condition, which has witnessed the militant rise of local religions in a world that has supposedly become-reason. It brings to attention how Badiou has somewhat intervened in the “postsecular” through his call for the Pauline Subject. Badiou argues that the figure of St. Paul may end all violence issuing from particular “postsecular” differences, since Paul’s universalist perspective is indifferent to differences. However, this chapter shows that Badiou’s Pauline Subject, which militantly declares his faith and demands all to follow him in his trajectory, means that it still stands very much as a symbolic violence against others and their differences. This chapter calls, therefore, for a reject to counter Badiou’s Pauline Subject. This reject can be found in Cixous’s animal-messiahs in her “messianic” fiction of the 1990s such as Messie and “Conversation avec l’âne.” These animal figures lead toward a future free from the dictates of an anthropomorphic and anthropocentric subject, and in ways that go beyond a faith/ knowledge dichotomy. More importantly, they also do so in ways where the articulation of one difference does not come at the expense of another.Less
This chapter moves forward in time to the contemporary “postsecular” condition, which has witnessed the militant rise of local religions in a world that has supposedly become-reason. It brings to attention how Badiou has somewhat intervened in the “postsecular” through his call for the Pauline Subject. Badiou argues that the figure of St. Paul may end all violence issuing from particular “postsecular” differences, since Paul’s universalist perspective is indifferent to differences. However, this chapter shows that Badiou’s Pauline Subject, which militantly declares his faith and demands all to follow him in his trajectory, means that it still stands very much as a symbolic violence against others and their differences. This chapter calls, therefore, for a reject to counter Badiou’s Pauline Subject. This reject can be found in Cixous’s animal-messiahs in her “messianic” fiction of the 1990s such as Messie and “Conversation avec l’âne.” These animal figures lead toward a future free from the dictates of an anthropomorphic and anthropocentric subject, and in ways that go beyond a faith/ knowledge dichotomy. More importantly, they also do so in ways where the articulation of one difference does not come at the expense of another.
Tracy McNulty
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231161190
- eISBN:
- 9780231537605
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231161190.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter examines Paul's polemic and its centrality to Alain Badiou's theory of the event, arguing that it overlooks the way in which the Mosaic law can itself be understood as an “event” by ...
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This chapter examines Paul's polemic and its centrality to Alain Badiou's theory of the event, arguing that it overlooks the way in which the Mosaic law can itself be understood as an “event” by elaborating the evental understanding of the law implicit in Pierre Legendre's writings on Jewish law and Romano-Canonical juridicism and Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism. Badiou has made numerous and important contributions to the problem of the symbolic, including but not limited to the elaboration of what might be called a symbolic dimension to his theory of the event. However, his work appears to leave no room for a symbolic understanding of law. In Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism (1997), Badiou addresses the relationship between his theory of the event and questions of law. This chapter considers how Badiou's reading underscores the novelty of Paul's discourse with respect to the positions of “Jew” and “Greek.” It also discusses Legendre's analysis of the stakes of the word “Jew” in relation to the transmission at stake in the fictional structure of legalism.Less
This chapter examines Paul's polemic and its centrality to Alain Badiou's theory of the event, arguing that it overlooks the way in which the Mosaic law can itself be understood as an “event” by elaborating the evental understanding of the law implicit in Pierre Legendre's writings on Jewish law and Romano-Canonical juridicism and Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism. Badiou has made numerous and important contributions to the problem of the symbolic, including but not limited to the elaboration of what might be called a symbolic dimension to his theory of the event. However, his work appears to leave no room for a symbolic understanding of law. In Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism (1997), Badiou addresses the relationship between his theory of the event and questions of law. This chapter considers how Badiou's reading underscores the novelty of Paul's discourse with respect to the positions of “Jew” and “Greek.” It also discusses Legendre's analysis of the stakes of the word “Jew” in relation to the transmission at stake in the fictional structure of legalism.
