French Literature Reviews - 2026

Alain Badiou by Alain Badiou
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Alain Badiou by Alain Badiou

Alain Badiou

PUF, Collection: Perspectives critiques

Publication date: 03/02/2021

Born from an encounter with a class of Belgian high school students, this book embodies the fulfillment of a challenge: for a philosopher renowned for the ambition and richness of his work, to offer an introduction that never loses its cutting edge. Alain Badiou has taken up this challenge in this concise volume, blending interviews and previously unpublished texts. With equal measures of verve and pedagogical skill, it spans over sixty years of publications and traverses every domain in which his thought has made its mark: fundamental ontology, mathematics, politics, poetry, or love—along the way offering numerous digressions into the great figures of the history of philosophy. At a time when Alain Badiou's work is taught and discussed in universities and elite institutions worldwide, it was high time for a reliable compass to help navigate its staggering abundance. Here it is in your hands.

Contents

PREFACE

PART ONE – “EVENT, TRUTHS, SUBJECT”

I. What is Philosophy?

II. The Conditioning of Philosophy: Mathematics, Arts, Love & Politics

III. “The Truth Procedure” – Some Key Concepts: Being & Event, Subject & Fidelity

IV. The History of Philosophy: From Plato to Wittgenstein

V. “Changing the World” / “Corrupting the Youth”

VI. Equality, Universality, Emancipation: The Communist Idea

PART TWO – “PHILOSOPHY BETWEEN MATHEMATICS AND POETRY”

PART THREE – “ONTOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS”

I. Philosophy and Its Conditions

II. “In Situation”

III. Ontologies

IV. Being and Event

V. Logics of Worlds

VI. The Immanence of Truths

*

Alain Badiou is a philosopher. His vast body of work has made him the most translated and discussed French thinker in the world. With Puf, he is the author of Saint Paul (1997), Rhapsody for the Theatre (2014), Metaphysics of Real Happiness (2015), and Trump (2020).

This volume emerges from an encounter with high school students, offering an introduction to a body of work. Spanning over sixty years of publications, the book traverses ontology, mathematics, politics, poetry, and love, while engaging with figures from the history of philosophy. It reflects the broader landscape of contemporary French philosophy, where thinkers frequently seek new ways to communicate complex frameworks to wider audiences. Readers interested in contemporary continental philosophy and modern intellectual traditions may find this overview relevant to their studies.

The text covers foundational concepts such as truth procedures, being, the subject, and the communist idea, organizing them into thematic sections. Such inquiries belong to a long-standing philosophical tradition concerned with the intersection of formal systems, political commitment, and artistic creation. By combining interviews with previously unpublished texts, the publication provides an orientation through an oeuvre that continues to be discussed in academic and intellectual institutions around the world.