Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Verso (2002), Paperback, 224 pages
Description
Alain Badiou, one of the most powerful voices in contemporary French philosophy, shows how our prevailing ethical principles serve ultimately to reinforce an ideology of the status quo and fail to provide a framework for an effective understanding of the concept of evil.
User reviews
LibraryThing member lukeasrodgers
Very readable. This book develops themes and ideas from Being and Event (in fact the preface by Badiou explicitly notes some places where he has revised positions advanced in his magnum opus), and is a targeted intervention into current popular and academic discourse on ethics and multiculturalism.
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Badiou's position is forcefully argued, and he is insightful as ever, but in the course of making his argument he produces numerous strawmen and simplifications; furthermore, while I agree with parts of his criticism of Levinas and the so-called "ethics of the Other" he also is frequently far too glib in his handling of these positions, to the point where one begins to question whether he even understands them. Would have been a five star rating if it weren't for the way that Badiou's polemics occasionally deteriorate into vapid denunciations and hand waving. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2001
Physical description
168 p.; 7.58 inches
ISBN
1859844359 / 9781859844359