Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil

Description

Alain Badiou explodes the facile assumptions behind the recent ethical turn by governments of the West. He shows how our prevailing ethical principles serve to reinforce an ideology of the status quo and ultimately fail to provide a framework for an effective understanding of the fundamental concepts of good and evil. In contrast, Badiou summons up an "ethic of truths" which is designed to sustain and inspire a disciplined, subjective adherence to a militant cause (be it political, scientific, artistic or romantic) and to discern a finely demarcated zone of application for the concept of evil. Front Matter
......Page 1 Contents......Page 2 Translator's Introduction......Page 4 Notes on the Translation......Page 46 Preface to the English Edition......Page 50 Introduction......Page 56 1
Does Man Exist?......Page 60 2
Does the Other Exist?......Page 74 3
Ethics as a Figure of Nihilism......Page 86 4
The Ethic of Truths......Page 96 5
The Problem of Evil......Page 114 Conclusion......Page 146 Appendix: Politics and Philosophy: An Interview with Alain
Badiou......Page 148 Bibliography: Works
Cited in Ethics......Page 198 Bibliography: Other Works
Cited......Page 200 Works by Alain Badiou......Page 204 Works on Alain Badiou......Page 214 Index......Page 216