Alain Badiou is perhaps the leading contemporary French philosopher. At the heart of his work lies the project of thinking change or, to be more precise, of distinguishing true novelty from mere innovation. For Badiou, such radical changes – events – require a rupture with the existing laws of the situation, amounting to what we would usually call “revolutions”. A political radical himself, Badiou has persisted in remaining faithful to the need to think a radical egalitarian politics against the conformism of market-driven societies. In many ways he is one of the last remaining figures of the “total philosopher” – Badiou is not only a political militant, but also a playwright, a novelist, and now a film-maker. He also stands out against the usual image of Continental…

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Citation: Noys, Benjamin. "Alain Badiou". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 August 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11983, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11983 Alain Badiou 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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