Philosophy and the Event

by Alain Badiou, Fabien Tarby

This concise and accessible book is the perfect introduction to Badiou's thought. Responding to Tarby's questions, Badiou takes us on a journey that interrogates and explores the four conditions of philosophy: politics, love, art and science. In all these domains, events occur that bring to light possibilities that were invisible or even unthinkable; they propose something to us. Everything then depends on how the possibility opened up by the event is grasped, elaborated and embedded in the world - this is what Badiou calls a 'truth procedure'. The event creates a possibility but there then has to be an effort - a group effort in the case of politics, an individual effort in the case of love or art - for this possibility to become real and inscribed in the world. As he explains his thinking on politics, love, art and science, Badiou takes stock of his major works, reflects on their central themes and arguments and looks forward to the questions he plans to address in his future writings. The book concludes with a short introduction to Badiou's philosophy by Fabien Tarby. For anyone wishing to understand the work of one of the most widely read and influential philosophers writing today, this small book will be an indispensable guide.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Theory, Nonfiction

150 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alain Badiou, Ph.D., born in Rabat, Morocco in 1937, holds the Rene Descartes Chair at the European Graduate School EGS. Alain Badiou was a student at the École Normale Supérieure in the 1950s. He taught at the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes-Saint Denis) from 1969 until 1999, when he returned to ENS as the Chair of the philosophy department. He continues to teach a popular seminar at the Collège International de Philosophie, on topics ranging from the great 'antiphilosophers' (Saint-Paul, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Lacan) to the major conceptual innovations of the twentieth century. Much of Badiou's life has been shaped by his dedication to the consequences of the May 1968 revolt in Paris. Long a leading member of Union des jeunesses communistes de France (marxistes-léninistes), he remains with Sylvain Lazarus and Natacha Michel at the center of L'Organisation Politique, a post-party organization concerned with direct popular intervention in a wide range of issues (including immigration, labor, and housing). He is the author of several successful novels and plays as well as more than a dozen philosophical works.

Trained as a mathematician, Alain Badiou is one of the most original French philosophers today. Influenced by Plato, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Jacques Lacan and Gilles Deleuze, he is an outspoken critic of both the analytic as well as the postmodern schools of thoughts. His philosophy seeks to expose and make sense of the potential of radical innovation (revolution, invention, transfiguration) in every situation.

Reviews

[Amirsaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

بدیو می‌گوید رخداد را باید پیگیری کرد و منتظر معجزه نماند. اما سوال من این‌جاست که اگر همین رخداد (خواه وقایع پیش از کمون پاریس، مه ۶۸، یا انتخابات ۸۸ ایران) طبیعی نباشد چه؟ یعنی زاده‌ی تحریک همان رسانه‌هایی باشد که بدیو مردم را وابسته‌ی آن‌ها می‌داند. مثلا وقایع دی ۹۶ ایران چنین رخدادی تلقی می‌شدند، پس آیا در چنین شرایطی پافشاری روی رخداد، عاقلانه است؟
در قرن بیست و یک، دین و سنت را دشمن اصلی نشان دادن (و نیز بحران محیط زیست)، حیله‌ی سرمایه‌داری است.
«سرمایه‌داری، حیوان‌سازیِ جانوری است به نام بشر، که دیگر جز از طریق منافعش و آن‌چه فکر می‌کند سهم او است زندگی نمی‌کند. این حیوان‌سازی بی‌اندازه خطرناک است زیرا فاقد ارزش و قانون است.»

تفاوت عشق با دوستی این است که در عشق، یک هستی پذیرفته می‌شود؛ ولی در دوستی، بخش‌هایی از فرد مقابل. در نتیجه دوستی می‌تواند بخاطر اشتراکات سیاسی و فرهنگی باشد.
تمایزی بین موسیقی عامه‌پسند و فرهیخته نیست؛ به‌جز این‌که «در جاز ما با سپهری از پیشنهادهای فُرمال سروکار داریم که موسیقی فرهیخته آن را به شکل کاملی پیش‌بینی نکرده بود، به‌خصوص با وارد ساختن بداهه.»

در انتهای کتاب، مصاحبه‌کننده، مقاله‌ای نوشته که در فهم فلسفه‌ و دنیای بدیو (خصوصا فصل پنجم کتاب که دشوار است) خیلی راهگشا است.
«ما به عشقی که قراردادی شده است قانع می‌شویم، به وضعتی منفرد که یا خودخواهانه است و یا مالیخولیایی و یا به تساوی بین عاشق بودن و میل جنسی داشتن. آیا این به‌راستی عشق است اگر هیچ تفاوتی با ارضای حوایج ما، یا قدم‌زدن در خیابان، نداشته باشد؟ اگر رای دادن هیچ تفاوتی با خرید و مصرف نداشته باشد، آیا به‌راستی یک نوع درگیر بودن با سیاست است؟»
بنظر بدیوی متریالیست، لازم است «رخداد» را دنبال کنیم و به سوژه بدل شویم، به جای گشتن پی معنای زندگی.

[Definitely Not Piti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise and (surprisingly) fun introduction to Badiou's philosophy.

The book is a transcript of an interview with Alain Badiou about the 4 conditions of philosophy (which are politics, love, science, and art) and his philosophy (mainly about the soon-to-be-published book, The Immanence of Truths). Due to the nature of any interview, I feel that the book is a little bit unstructured and some ideas are not clearly elucidated. The last chapter is the overview of Badiou's philosophical system written by the interviewer. Very good summary of the book after all.

[Chris Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conversational and accessible.

[Maciek · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and accessible introduction to Badiou's ideas. The interviews don't really work as interviews in that Tarby's questions are fairly superficial. Whenever the more controversial aspects of Badiou's philosophy come up, he gets off the hook very quickly. Still I appreciate the set of the discussed topics. The book ends with a skippable 20-page summary of 'how great a philosopher Badiou is' :-)

[Toon Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

เล่มนี้คือดีย์ แต่มีมึนๆบ้าง มันสนุกตรงที่ Badiou ได้เสนอถึง 4 conditions: politics, love, art, sciences ที่จะนำพาเราไปสู่ truth โดยแต่ละส่วนก็ให้ idea, logic ในการคิดเฟี้ยวดี ที่สำคัญชอบตรง philosophy of event ของเขา ที่มันเป็น philosophy ที่ต้องการ rapture เพื่อจะนำมาซึ่ง event (เกิดความเป็นไปได้ใหม่ๆอันอุบัติขึ้นในสังคมการเมืองนี้)

[Slow Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! Read it in 1 sitting, the perfect intro to his philosophy

[Stephen Lazaro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strike two Badiou. Second book and as unimpressed as I was the first one.
The art chapter is certainly odious enough to play for the rest.

[Lukas Stock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indispensable as an introduction to Badiou, and a springboard to diving into his major works.

[Bob Reutenauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read about Badiou, as all readers of Slavoz Zizek are exposed every couple of pages! Also read his short book on Arab Spring which was well worth it. This book is an interview serving as an introductory overview of his work as a philosopher.. not as the political oracle that also publishes widely. His philosophy is difficult going! He attempts to synthesis the idealism of Plato [form, Idea, Truth] and the variety of materialisms.. every day life, Marx, CERN particle accelerators, human animality, mathematics, etc. The four "conditions of philosophy": love, art, science, and politics all allow us to experience this synthesis, Ain't easy. This is where Zizek gets his bit about "falling in love." [search you tube - zizek and love. funny.] You can't organize it, plan it... and when it hits normal life is not possible, briefly at least. It happened to me! Event. The same moments are possible in politics, when time goes out of mind, strike situations, direct action organizing, large mass marches.. I have experienced these moments of truth as well. Artistic creations and transfiction of the viewer, listener through senses. I have been to about 20 Dylan shows since the start of his "never ending tour" in 1987 and do experience a restfulIy powerful set of unique thoughts, range of thoughts about history, society, travel desires "boot heels to be wandering" happiness. Think of some contemporary art in a big museum.. "two lines crossing near the edge" or some such very minimal thing. How did it get on this wall? Dialectical relationship between ART and the ARTS. Social relations of production and circulation. An "art world" exists. He loses me at science... form, logic, mathematics.

Finally, key.. Badiou brings together idealism and materialism by reckoning that philosophers don't start thinking about "ideas" but about "things" .. I forget how he attempts out of this circular or "in the last instance" problem!

Going to a series of lectures by Badiou next week at Global Center for Advanced Studies in Michigan.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Badiou gives a public account of his four 'conditions' of philosophy: Politics, Love, Art, and Science. The real payoff is the fifth chapter on Philosophy, wherein he talks about his upcoming project of Being and Event III, titled 'The Immanence of Truths'. This work is really accessible, compared to his more rigorous efforts, and the format of the book helps significantly. The book is written as an interview between Badiou and another person named Fabien Tarby. They discuss in each chapter, a different condition, drawing out some interesting implications. Notable favorites were the chapter on Love, where Badiou lays waste to the idea that Love and be the foundational principle for Politics. In the chapter on Science, Badiou clarifies his position on Physics and Biology, as being an issue for the 'Transcendental' (reference to Logics of Worlds) of the world and the way appearances are registered rather than an ontological issue (as opposed to say Mathematical thinking which entails theorems and proofs, i.e. the Continuum Hypothesis). This cuts hard against the scientists who are out to declare the end of Philosophy's relevance.

All and all, a great little book which raises some issues which might certainly pique further investigation into the work of Alain Badiou for any body looking for a foothold.

[Inna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucid and thoughtful interviews with Badiou on the need for socialism, on the creativity of love, on the status of modern art, on science and its role in philosophical debates and on this current work as well as his notions on philosophy in general.

[Jacob Kanev · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting and readable interview, detailing Badiou's theoretical framework.