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Philosophy for Militants
An urgent and provocative account of the modern ‘militant’, a transformative figure at the front line of emancipatory politics. Around the world, recent events have seen the creation of a radical phalanx comprising students, the young, workers and immigrants. It is Badiou’s contention that the politics of such militants should condition the ta...more
Hardcover, 128 pages
Published
October 9th 2012
by Verso
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There is no philosophy for militants, philosophy come after revolutions of certain conditions. Philosophy accompanies new paradigms of love, art, biology… So we need, Badiou says, a new political fiction to believe in, a fiction like communism was before its authoritarian dictators ruined it for everyone. We need to find an appropriate place to organize it. The factory may be passé. At any rate young people will make the revolutionary turn toward a more just world. Liberty will have to be sacrif...more
Badiou thinks we are in a time of cataclysmic change. This is basically the same song and dance that every thinker living in Europe today believes. We have all heard it before. Nihilism is here, beware, beware.
This book is most certainly NOT for any militants who are seeking a philosophy. He gives no philosophy whatsoever. Instead he insists on something new. Something that is universal which can be shared by many people. According to him we no longer believe in the warrior cult. The soldiers h...more
This book is most certainly NOT for any militants who are seeking a philosophy. He gives no philosophy whatsoever. Instead he insists on something new. Something that is universal which can be shared by many people. According to him we no longer believe in the warrior cult. The soldiers h...more
Badiou is not known for his clarity, lucidity, nor compact writing. Every time I've tried to listen to him on Youtube, or read one of his longer pieces, I fall asleep before I'm certain he's even made a point. Hell, to be really crass, my friend Jesse described him as "a walking corpse." Hence, I waited to pick up another book by him - I had his Ethics which matches all the mentioned negative commentary - until a very short one came out. This book was quite the surprise. It's comprised of 3 piec...more
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I haven't read anything by Alain Badiou, but was interested in a short work of philosophy. Sadly, I wish I had written some of the limited thoughts I had while reading this, but didn't. I was more interested in his short interview about the protests in Quebec, which was kind of interesting--I got more out of it than the philosophy. Seems like he's a maoist and/or a marxist leninist which doesn't really do much for me. I did like some of his thoughts on ideology and the need to find a new fiction...more
my rough notes// inchoate summaries
essay 1– The Enigmatic Relationship between Philosophy & Politics.
Badiou’s dialectical working through of the relationship between politics and philosophy hinges (more or less) on a discussion of democracy. He will attempt to redefine democracy according to philosophical principles. Philosophy decides on truths & universality, while politics promotes democracy (defined as freedom of opinion). Badiou says that this political conception of democracy is fr...more
essay 1– The Enigmatic Relationship between Philosophy & Politics.
Badiou’s dialectical working through of the relationship between politics and philosophy hinges (more or less) on a discussion of democracy. He will attempt to redefine democracy according to philosophical principles. Philosophy decides on truths & universality, while politics promotes democracy (defined as freedom of opinion). Badiou says that this political conception of democracy is fr...more
This is not a manifesto for militants, it is philosophy for militants because even if you do not agree with Badiou the questions raised in this book should be considered by all who consider their ideologies to be related to direct action and struggle. The book is divided into three essays.
The first is about how philosophy and politics coincide and what exactly their relationship is. It goes over the different ways philosophy can be used to attain justice for society, and create an egalitarian f...more
The first is about how philosophy and politics coincide and what exactly their relationship is. It goes over the different ways philosophy can be used to attain justice for society, and create an egalitarian f...more
A short book divided into 3 sections that don't really connect. The title is pretty misleading - the book doesn't really live up to the combative title and the talk about "physical" action is pretty limited. His ideas about unnameability, "generic"ness, what philosophy is are all interesting, although there was nothing that made me go wow - I feel I'd probably have got a lot more out of it if I was more familiar with Badiou's other work. Still interesting stuff. The book is confusing in a few po...more
The book contains three essays. The first I found to be spot on as far as the relationship between philosophy and politics proper. The second essay was alright as Badiou attempts to discern the figure of the solider through some poetry. The third essay ends with a rather enigmatic call for the "a new fiction" and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it.
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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 Coll...more
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Dec 23, 2012 07:41pm