Alain Badiou

Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou, 2012
Born (1937-01-17) 17 January 1937
Political party
List
    • UCFml (1969–1985)
    • L'Organisation Politique (1985–2007)
Education
EducationÉcole Normale Supérieure (B.A., M.A.)
Academic advisorsGeorges Canguilhem
Philosophical work
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolContinental philosophy
Maoism
Marxism
Modern Platonism
InstitutionsUniversity of Reims
University of Paris VIII
École normale supérieure
Main interestsSet theory, category theory, topos theory, history of philosophy, philosophy of mathematics, metapolitics, metaphysics/ontology, psychoanalysis
Notable ideasEvent, ontology of the multiple, ontology is mathematics, the One is not, count-as-one, metapolitics

Alain Badiou (/bɑːˈdj/; French: [alɛ̃ badju] ; born 17 January 1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault and Jean-François Lyotard. Badiou's work is heavily informed by philosophical applications of mathematics, in particular set theory and category theory. Badiou's "Being and Event" project considers the concepts of being, truth, event and the subject defined by a rejection of linguistic relativism seen as typical of postwar French thought. Unlike his peers, Badiou believes in the idea of universalism and truth. His work is notable for his widespread applications of various conceptions of indifference. Badiou has been involved in a number of political organisations, and regularly comments on political events. Badiou argues for a return of communism as a political force.