En juin 1959, Elena Spirgevičienė, de Kaunas (Lituanie), saisit le comité central du parti communiste d’Union soviétique d’une plainte contre l’attribution à titre posthume du titre de Héros de l’URSS au partisan Alfonsas Čeponis. En 1944, affirme-t-elle, cet homme faisait partie d’une bande qui a assassiné sa sœur, l’a violée elle-même, et a tenté de violer puis a tué sa fille. Fondé en particulier sur des documents d’archives originaux publiés dans ce même numéro de Clio, cet article retrace les différentes (...) étapes de l’affaire et les récits contradictoires qu’elle met en jeu. Il oppose la figure du héros soviétique Čeponis à sa déconstruction par la plaignante qui le dépeint comme un bandit. Il montre le retournement qui a lieu lors de l’examen de la plainte par le Comité central du parti communiste de Lituanie : non seulement le viol commis contre la plaignante est nié, mais c’est elle qui se retrouve en position d’accusée. Enfin, il retrace comment la tentative de viol de la fille, suivie de son assassinat, est utilisée par le discours lituanien dissident dans les années 1970, dominant aujourd’hui, pour construire une nouvelle figure de martyre. (shrink)

Infinite Thought brings together a representative selection of the range of Alain Badiou's work, illustrating the power and diversity of his thought.

The subtractive : preface by Francois Wahl -- Philosophy itself -- The (re)turn of philosophy itself -- Definition of philosophy -- What is a philosophical institution? -- Philosophy and poetry -- The philosophical recourse to the poem -- Mallarm's method : subtraction and isolation -- Rimbaud's method : interruption -- Philosophy and mathematics -- Conference on subtraction -- Truth : forcing and unnameable -- Philosophy and politics -- Philosophy and love -- What is love? -- Philosophy and psychoanalysis -- Subject (...) and infinite -- Antiphilosophy : Lacan and Plato -- Writing of the generic -- Writing of the generic : Samuel beckett. (shrink)

We show how second order logic incompleteness follows from incompleteness of arithmetic, as proved by Gödel.

Volume 10, Issue 2, June 2019, Page 281-288.

The very diversity of cultures impels the economist to respect a principle of modesty when it comes to specifying the degree of universality to which the science of economics can lay claim. In considering this issue, this paper: a) criticizes the ambition of certain forms of economic thought to arrive at truths which are universal, and b) explores the modes by which contemporary economic science participates in a renewed pursuit of a universalist doctrine. It concludes that the logic of economic (...) rationality implies a representation of the world that is incompatible with the diversity of cultures. At the same time, such diversity should not be raised to the status of absolutes. Combining difference and unity is a major challenge for current economics. (shrink)

Dans toutes les langues occidentales, le mot " temps " recouvre deux notions différentes : le temps, collectif, de l'horloge, et celui, individuel, de l'âme. Husserl, Bergson et Heidegger ont cerné le temps individuel mais ne sont pas allés au bout des conséquences de leur introspection. Einstein, en relativisant le temps de l'horloge, n'en a pas développé les implications philosophiques. Cette étude propose d'explorer cette nouvelle approche dans laquelle le temps n'est plus " a priori ", mais est généré par (...) le " phénomène ", au sens large du terme. On bascule alors dans un monde nouveau où l'inexistence du temps " habituel " entraîne des modifications considérables dans la philosophie, la théologie et... la vie quotidienne. C'est au cours de ses explorations dans les solitudes désertiques de l'Alaska que l'auteur a eu l'idée de cette nouvelle approche du temps. (shrink)

Free will typically refers to any form of significant control over one’s actions. This definition is remarkably similar to that of self-regulation—the control of one’s behavior, emotions, and thoughts in pursuit of long-term goals. Indeed, several scholars have proposed that the latter constitutes the psychological equivalent of the former. A large body of empirical work demonstrates that both covert (inner) and overt (private) forms of self-directed speech are causally associated with self-regulatory outcomes such as action planning, problem-solving, emotion regulation, attention, (...) cognitive flexibility, working memory, and self-reflection. It thus seems logical to propose that free will too recruits self-directed speech. This argument is explored by reviewing the relevant literature pertaining to free will, self-regulation, and inner/private speech. More specifically, free will is defined and contrasted with self-regulation, whose definition ends up being remarkably similar. Examples of typical research on private and inner speech are presented and show a key involvement of self-directed speech in self-regulation. The notion that free will depends on inner speech is further explored based on Wiley’s work (2009). One outstanding implication is that individual differences in self-directed speech use could be linked to different levels of free will. That is, people using inner/private speech more efficiently could exhibit freer will, and vice-versa. (shrink)

In the management of the Covid 19 crisis, digital technologies were used in a major way. This article defends the hypothesis that these technologies took the form of a “tacit social experimentation”. This article justifies this concept in three levels. The first part uses this concept to qualify the form of biopolitics that was implemented to manage the crisis. Digital technologies were used to discipline the population and, literally speaking, as instruments of knowledge of the population. Uncertainty forced experts to (...) make preliminary observations and act to produce knowledge. Second, this article shows that the use of digital technologies during the crisis was experimental in a second sense. By promoting telemedicine within a more flexible legal framework, the authorities authorised an experimental use of telemedicine without knowledge or control of its side effects. Finally, the article defends the use of the concept of “tacit social experimentation” for ethical and political purposes. For indeed, understanding the experiments carried out during the crisis begs the question of the involvement of the participants and their democratic steering. (shrink)

Alain Badiou’s 1983–1984 lecture series on “the One” is the earliest of his seminars that he has chosen to publish. It focuses on the philosophical concept of oneness in the works of Descartes, Plato, and Kant—a crucial foil for his signature metaphysical concept, the multiple. Badiou declares that there is no “One”: there is no fundamental unit of being; being is inherently multiple. What is novel in Badiou’s view of multiplicity is his reliance on mathematics, and set theory in (...) particular. A set is a collection of things—yet, as he observes, it often is taken to “count as one” operationally for the purposes of mathematical transformations. In this seminar, distinguishing between “the One” and “counting as one” emerges as essential to Badiou’s ontological project. His analysis of reflections on oneness in Descartes, Plato, and Kant prefigures core arguments of his defining work, Being and Event. Showcasing the seeds of Badiou’s key ideas and later thought, The One features singular readings, breathtaking theorizations, and frequently astonishing offhand remarks. (shrink)

Plato's _Republic_ is one of the best-known and most widely-discussed texts in the history of philosophy. But how might we get to the heart of this work today, 2,500 years after its original composition? Alain Badiou breathes life into Plato's landmark text and revives its universality. Rather than producing yet another critical commentary, he has instead worked closely on the original Greek and, through spectacular changes, adapted it to our times. In this innovative reimagining of Plato's work, Badiou has (...) removed all references specific to ancient Greek society--from lengthy exchanges about moral courage in archaic poetry to political considerations mainly of interest to the aristocratic elite--and has expanded the range of cultural references. Here, philosophy is firing on all cylinders: Socrates and his companions are joined by Beckett, Pessoa, Freud, and Hegel, among others. Together these thinkers demonstrate that true philosophy endures, ready to absorb new horizons without changing its essence. Moreover, Badiou--who is also a dramatist--has transformed the Socratic dialogue into a genuine oratorial contest. In his version of the _Republic_, the interlocutors do much more than simply agree with Socrates. They argue, stand up to him, put him on the spot, and show thought in motion. In this work of dramatic scholarship and philosophy, we encounter a modern version of Plato's text that is alive, stimulating, and directly relevant to our own world. (shrink)

Martin Heidegger was an ordinary Nazi and a loyal member of the provincial petty bourgeoisie. He was also a seminal thinker of the Continental tradition and one of the twentieth century's most important philosophers. How are we to make sense of this dual life? Should we factor Heidegger's domestic and political associations into our understanding of his thought, or should we treat his intellectual work independently of his abhorrent politics? How does any thinker reconcile the mundane with the ideal or (...) the pursuit of philosophical inquiry with the demands of civic engagement? In Heidegger, Alain Badiou and Barbara Cassin immerse themselves in the philosopher's correspondence with his wife Elfride to answer these questions as they relate to Heidegger and all thinkers vulnerable to the politics of their times. They focus on Heidegger's tormented relationship with his wife, with Hannah Arendt, and with numerous other women, bringing an unusual level of intimacy to his personal and intellectual worlds. (shrink)

DOMINIC WILLSDON. — Nous accueillons Alain Badiou, un des philosophes importants en France depuis plusieurs décennies, de plus en plus connu maintenant que ses œuvres sont traduites en anglais, et que la littérature secondaire sur sa philosophie se développe aussi en anglais. Parmi ses livres traduits ces dernières années, on trouve Deleuze. La..

In this paper, we study dialogue as a game, but not only in the sense in which there would exist winning strategies and a priori rules. Dialogue is not governed by game rules like for chess or other games, since even if we start from a priori rules, it is always possible to play with them, provided that some invariant properties are preserved. An important discovery of Ludics is that such properties may be expressed in geometrical terms. The main feature (...) of a dialogue is “convergence”. Intuitively, a dialogue “diverges” when it stops prematurely by some disruption, or a violation of the tacit agreed upon conditions of the discourse. It converges when the two speakers go together towards a situation where they agree at least on some points. As we shall see, convergence may be thought of through the geometrical concept of orthogonality . Utterances in a dialogue have as their content, not only the processes (similar to proofs) which lead to them from a monologic view, but also their interactions with other utterances. Finally, any utterance must be seen as co-constructed in an interaction between two processes. That is to say that it not only contains one speaker’s intentions but also his or her expectations from the other interlocutor. From our viewpoint, discursive strategies like narration , elaboration , topicalization may derive from such interactions, as well as speech acts like assertion, question and denegation. (shrink)

Two opposite statements must be rejected with the same rigor. First (1) is that a few countries have identified themselves with modernity by their scientific, technical and economic achievement and that the rest of the world, which is lagging behind the ‘advanced countries’, must follow in their footsteps and imitate their example. The article first of all sets out the falsity of such a statement, because there is not one but many western paths of modernization, and indicates that it is (...) nothing but a colonialist ideology, which spread from European and American societies and cultures and destroyed all independent efforts of modernization in other countries, in particular China. The hegemony of the western capitalist model is more than challenged by other ways of modernization, for though the soviet model has failed, other countries are ‘emerging’ or have already emerged. Second (2) the opposite representation defends the idea of a complete multiculturalism including political regimes and human rights. It fights against the previous colonialist model and supports a total relativism. But this view makes impossible the communication between completely different countries and cultures and reciprocal fear leads to an extreme conflict between ‘civilizations’, such as S. Huntington has described. This view leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable if each civilization has a complete internal unity and a complete control on all its activities. But the world is not divided into various theocratic states: no single theocratic state commands the whole or the majority of Muslim population. The central problem remains real and difficult: how to combine unity and diversity, the difference between cultures and the capacity for them to communicate with each other? The most useful idea is to elaborate one general definition of modernity, as a culture which is based on universalistic principles. The western mode of modernization is not the only possible one; nor is it at all sure that the western process of separation of temporal and spiritual powers is the only possibility. We cannot assert that universalism must penetrate social life only through political institutions and citizenship. It is beyond any reasonable doubt that modernity, with its universalistic components, cannot be identified with only one type of social organization and cultural values. (shrink)

The theme of the paper is that what is true cannot be false and conversely. This position was anticipated by Aristotle in De Interpretatione and by G. H. von Wright. The latter calls it “a truth of the logic of relative modalities.”Aristotle has been taken to task by Susan Haack and others for arguing fallaciously from the Principle of Bivalence, that every statement is either true or false, to fatalism. The implication holds, but we show that it is unreasonable to (...) assume that Aristotle grounded his argument on this implication rather than on what we call the force of truth. (shrink)

From 2001 to 2004, Alain Badiou's lectures focused on the relationship between philosophy and the present moment. The "end of metaphysics," the "death of God," the meaning of life, the goals of society, and other perennial topics raise the question as to whether philosophy can ultimately be contemporary with individual human experience as its object. How can the present moment be legitimately addressed? In response to the classical philosophical issue of existence, Alain Badiou reflects on time not in (...) the sense of its constant unfolding but of its urgency in the present, of being fully engaged with what is taking place in our own lives. The seminar addresses the most fundamental role of philosophy: for Badiou, it cannot confine itself to narrow academic issues but must always return to its eternal question--what does it mean to be fully human, a subject, rather than merely an individual, a speaking animal? This book contains some of Badiou's most inspiring and original work, involving ideas very much at odds with the emphasis one finds in much postmodern philosophy on limitation, repetition, and death. At the same time, Badiou's ideas here are quite different from the modes of "vitalism" that we find in such modern thinkers as Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze. For Badiou, the distinctively human characteristic is the possibility of living one's life oriented by one or more truths--that is, intrinsically egalitarian and universalist ideas that are developed collectively in a variety of human practices. This seminar will serve as an ideal introduction to the practical as well as conceptual possibilities that Badiou's thought implies for human life. (shrink)

This translation of Carlo Michelstaedter’s _Persuasion and Rhetoric_ brings the powerful and original work of a seminal cultural figure to English-language readers for the first time. Ostensibly a commentary on Plato’s and Aristotle’s relation to the pre-Socratic philosophers, Michelstaedter’s deeply personal book is an extraordinary rhetorical feat that reflects the author’s struggle to make sense of modern life. This edition includes an introduction discussing his life and work, an extensive bibliography, notes to introduce each chapter, and critical notes illuminating the (...) text. Within hours of completing _Persuasion and Rhetoric, _his doctoral thesis, 23-year-old Michelstaedter shot himself to death. The text he left behind has proved to be one of the most trenchant and influential studies in modern rhetoric, a work that develops Nietzschean themes and anticipates the conclusions of, among others, Martin Heidegger. Publication of the book in English is an event of great magnitude for students of Italian philosophy, rhetoric, and literature as well as the culture of Mitteleuropa. (shrink)

Spinoza est pour Deleuze le «Christ» et le «Prince» des philosophes, le philosophe «absolu», et son Éthique, «l’un des plus grands livres du monde»C’est sur Spinoza que Deleuze aura le plus écrit en lui consacrant deux livres: Spinoza et le problème de l’expression et Spinoza. Philosophie pratiqueSpinoza, le seul philosophe que Deleuze déclarait connaître «dans son cœur», est aussi celui dont la conceptualité fut la mieux approfondie par lui. «C’est sur Spinoza, écrit Deleuze, que j’ai le plus sérieusement travaillé d’après (...) les normes de l’histoire de la philosophie»Mais Deleuze ne s’en tient pas au seul cadre académique d’analyse. Il sait également produire une interprétation éminemment originale de la pensée de Spinoza. (shrink)

My first objective is to show that biblical hermeneutics inspires the contemporary art of textual interpretation, especially in the way we understand the interaction between the 'world of the text' and the 'world of the reader'. In this sense, the art of interpretation is not only the science of 'explanation' of the meaning of the text but also the 'understanding' of the impact of the text in our lives. With reference to the works of Paul Ricœur and Paul Beauchamp, I (...) will show how interpretation addresses the configuration of the plot of our lives and how it contributes to form our moral identity and our self-understanding in history and memory.Secondly, I will indicate how biblical hermeneutics and philosophical hermeneutics of the subject are deeply intertwined. There is the influence of the Christian traditions on hermeneutics, but also a complex relationship of mutual inclusion between them. (shrink)

- Ce seminaire de l annee 1984-1985, portant sur l Infini, est le frere de celui portant sur l Un, tenu en 1983-1984, et deja publie. Il s agit de passer au filtre de la grande histoire de la philosophie quelques concepts majeurs de L etre et l evenement, publie en 1988. L examen historique des concepts n a pas pour objectif direct leur incorporation dans ma propre entreprise metaphysique. Je cherche plutot a saisir la multiplicite des definitions et des (...) constructions, un peu comme qui regarde un objet sous differents angles et expose a differentes lumieres. Au fond, quand on cherche une idee dans l histoire, ce sont souvent les details qui importent et parfois unifient des pensees qu on aurait pu croire opposees. Cela donne a ce seminaire un tour exegetique et raffine. Mais que le lecteur ne soit pas effraye: la gymnastique intellectuelle est a la fin plus merveilleuse et plus feconde que l autre. Et puis, j ose le dire, je lui ai pas mal mache le travail! - A.B. Depuis 1966, une part importante de l enseignement du philosophe Alain Badiou, a pris la forme d un seminaire, lieu de libre parole et laboratoire de pensee. Les editions Fayard publient l ensemble de ces Seminaires de 1983 a aujourd hui, periode ou la documentation est abondante et continue. Ce volume est le huitieme de la serie. Alain Badiou est philosophe, dramaturge et romancier.". (shrink)

Dans cet entretien qu’il a accordé à un journaliste allemand, Alain Badiou revient sur son parcours, sur l’influence du contexte politique sur sa pensée, sur ses relations avec Sartre, Derrida ou Lacan, sur sa philosophie du sujet notamment, dans laquelle ce n’est pas l’infini mais la finitude qui pose problème. C’est par l’échange autour de sa lecture de Marx qu’il en vient à discuter de l’idée du communisme, et de son actualité possible. Toute la question du rapport entre théorie (...) et pratique se pose alors. Les années de dictature invalident-elles de fait cette idée? Dans un langage très accessible, Alain Badiou revient ainsi sur l’un des plus grands malentendus intellectuels du XXème siècle et sur la force de cette idée, qui porte en elle la conviction qu’un autre type d’organisation de la société est possible. (shrink)

In The Concept of Model Alain Badiou establishes a new logical ’concept of model’. Translated for the first time into English, the work is accompanied by an exclusive interview with Badiou in which he elaborates on the connections between his early and most recent work-for which the concept of model remains seminal.

In his classic essay The Gift, Marcel Mauss argued that gifts can never be truly free; rather, they bring about an expectation of reciprocal exchange. For over one hundred years, his ideas on economy, social relations, and exchange have inspired new modes of thought, none more so than what crystallized in the 1980s around an innovative group of French academics. In The Gift Paradigm, Alain Caillé provides the first in-depth, English-language introduction to La Revue du MAUSS - or, "Anti-Utilitarian (...) Movement in the Social Sciences," combining the work of anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, and others. Today, the very idea of a "general social science" seems unthinkable, unless you count the pervasive sway of a utilitarian logic in orthodox economics, or the diffuse influence of neoliberalism. Here, Caillé offers a distinctly different reading of economy and society, inspired by Mauss - as vital now as ever. (shrink)

Ils sont issus de la même génération. Ils ont tous les deux traversés les années rouges à la fin des années 1960. Alain Badiou est né en 1937 à Rabat, Jean-Claude Milner en 1941 à Paris. Mais s'ils furent l’un et l’autre maoïstes, le premier fixait toute son attention vers la Chine quand l’autre s’en détournait déjà. Cette polémique originaire sur le destin du gauchisme s’est nourrie de nouvelles et profondes divergences à propos du rôle de la philosophie et (...) de la politique au fil des années. La controverse oppose deux grands penseurs que tout rapproche et que tout éloigne. Qu’ils évoquent l’ère des révolutions, et en particulier la Commune et la Révolution culturelle chinoise ; qu’ils se penchent sur les grands massacres de l’Histoire ; qu’ils discutent de l’infini, de l’universel, du nom Juif, de l’antisémitisme, de la violence, du rôle des intellectuels, du progrès, du capitalisme, de la gauche, de l’Europe. Le scepticisme bon teint de Jean-Claude Milner se heurte constamment à la passion doctrinale d’Alain Badiou. L’amoureux de Lucrèce se frotte à la cuirasse de l’héritier de Platon. Les arguments minimalistes de Jean-Claude Milner croisent les propositions maximalistes d’Alain Badiou. Et ce débat hors normes débouche finalement sur de nouvelles interrogations. Car il n’est de meilleur remède à la puissance écrasante de la raison médiatique que la reviviscence des grandes disputes de l’esprit. (shrink)

Why bother to praise mathematics when you claim, as Alain Badiou does, that philosophy is first and foremost a metaphysics of happiness, or else it’s not worth an hour of trouble? What possible relationship can there be between mathematics and happiness? That is precisely the issue at stake in this dialogue, which serves as a very accessible introduction to what mathematics is and an exploration of the crucial influence it has always exerted on the greatest philosophers. Far from the (...) thankless, pointless exercises they are often thought to be, mathematics and logic are indispensable guides to ridding ourselves of dominant opinions and making possible an access to truths, or to a human experience of the utmost value. That is why mathematics may well be the shortest path to the true life, which, when it exists, is characterized by an incomparable happiness. (shrink)

Lacan a été, depuis la fin des années cinquante du dernier siècle, un compagnon essentiel autant que malaisé de mon itinéraire intellectuel. Aussi dans ce Séminaire la controverse est-elle constamment mêlée à la surprise étonnée devant les inventions du maître. On chemine comme on peut, dans la broussaille parfois. Mais on rencontre tant de formules décisives! Celle que je retiendrai parmi tous ces trésors verbaux consiste à dire que l'objectif de la cure est "d'élever l'impuissance à l'impossible". Ce pourrait bien (...) être la définition, par moi cherchée depuis longtemps, et que Lacan avait trouvée de longue date pour un usage tout différent, de la philosophie. Alain Badiou. (shrink)

" Le séminaire "L'essence de la politique" appartient au cycle qui étudie les quatre procédures de vérité (science, art, amour, politique) dans leur être de condition de la philosophie. Le coeur de l'entreprise a cette fois été de démontrer un théorème spéculatif difficile, dont je donne, près de trente ans plus tard, une version synthétique : La politique est la pensée, ou la théorie, de ce qu'elle est, y compris si on l'entend comme "pratique", comme action transformatrice de l'humanité par (...) elle-même. Mais une définition de la politique, qui en expose l'Idée éternelle, est toujours de nature philosophique. Il en résulte que toute confusion entre la pensée politique comme telle, agissant en situation, et sa définition philosophique, tournée vers l'éternité, prépare un désastre. Ces pages confrontent en moi-même, et dans leur tension toujours portée à l'irrésolution, le militant et le philosophe. Que le lecteur injecte dans ce support ses propres impasses... " A. B. Depuis 1966, une part importante de l'enseignement du philosophe Alain Badiou a pris la forme d'un séminaire, lieu de libre parole et laboratoire de pensée. Les éditions Fayard publient l'ensemble de ces Séminaires de 1983 à aujourd'hui, période où la documentation est abondante et continue. Ce volume est le douzième de la série. (shrink)

Tenu en 1983-1984, le séminaire intitulé L'Un, qui porte sur Descartes, Platon et Kant, est le premier du point de vue chronologique. Il inaugure le cycle de cinq années où Alain Badiou revisite toute l'histoire de la philosophie, de Parménide à Heidegger. Cette excursion passionnante aboutira à la rédaction de L'être et l'événement, dont l'Un est le concept majeur, avec la thèse radicale que, d'une certaine façon, le Sujet a toujours été l'objet de la philosophie.

This edition of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s “De ente et uno” (“On being and the one”) offers for the first time a key text for the reformation of metaphysics in Renaissance philosophy in German translation. The Latin text is added. The detailed introduction and careful commentary reveal the guiding points Pico has set with this work.

Der evangelische Theologe und Padagoge Friedrich Schleiermacher weist in der Debatte um die Judenemanzipation im ausgehenden 18. Jahrhundert den potentiellen Vorwurf, er sei ein Judenfeind, als missverstandlich zuruck. Dieses Ansinnen ist umso auffalliger, als Schleiermacher bereits dezidiert judenfeindliche Positionen vertreten hatte, bevor die Judenfrage um die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts zu einem feststehenden Begriff wurde. Hinsichtlich der theologischen Bedeutung des Judentums sowie der Emanzipation und Akkulturation der Juden konnen seine Positionen nur als Ausdruck eines theologischen und sozialen Antijudaismus verstanden werden. (...) Sie sind auch in die zentralen Uberlegungen seines Erziehungsdenkens eingegangen. In diesem Buch wird gezeigt, welche Rolle Antijudaismus und Antisemitismus in der Theoriebildung uber Erziehung und Bildung bereits vor dem Nationalsozialismus gespielt haben. (shrink)