Dilemmas of Truth in Alain Badiou's Philosophy

Description

This book on Alain Badiou’s philosophy begins with a central theme: the attempt to trace how Badiou has replaced the tradition of critical theory and negation with an affirmative support of his four generic procedures (art, science, love, and art) as inseparable from his revitalization of both the subject and the concept of truth. By defining four procedures as conditions of philosophy, Badiou makes the attempt to establish each as inter-related and systematically necessary to make a new proposal for thought. The fidelity to Badiou’s project for the 21st century, however, requires a fundamental examination: are his four truths complicated by an inescapable dilemma? And if so, can the four truths be retained, as a whole, or does the individual reader have to make a decision that will alter Badiou’s project and conclusions? By presenting the dilemmas of his thought, the scholarly reader will be in a position to then pursue the necessary study to come to their own conclusions and, by doing so, become sufficiently free to resist the many coercions of social and political life in liberal democracies today. Preface: Invitations Other Works by Alain Badiou Contents Abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction: Alain Badiou’s Affirmations Chapter 2: Art 1 The Artist as a “Vanishing Cause” 2 The Amorous Encounter of the Aesthetic 3 The Betrayal of Heteronomy 4 Artists as Great Affirmationists Chapter 3: Science 1 Is the Matheme Scientific? 2 Ancient Science and Psychotherapy 3 Sovereignty of the Concept 4 Biology or the True Life Chapter 4: Love 1 Love and the Confrontation with Enemies 2 A Solitary Event of Two 3 Deadly Jealousy 4 The Reinvention of Love? Chapter 5: Politics 1 Enemies and Their “Destruction” 2 The Communist Hypothesis 3 The One and the Many of Politics 4 Politics or the Truth of Independence Chapter 6: Conclusion: A Future and Happy Immanence Bibliography Index