Alain Badiou

Alain Badiou (1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault and Jean-François Lyotard. Badiou has written about the concepts of being, truth and the subject in a way that, he claims, is neither postmodern nor simply a repetition of modernity. Politically, Badiou is committed to the far left, and to the communist tradition.

Works

(in French unless noted otherwise)

Monographs

• Le concept de modèle: introduction à une épistémologie matérialiste des mathématiques, Paris: Maspero, 1969, 48 pp; new ed., exp., Paris: Fayard, 2007, 216 pp. [1]
  • The Concept of Model: An Introduction to the Materialist Epistemology of Mathematics, trans. Zachery Luke Fraser and Tzuchien Tho, Melbourne: re.press, 2007. (English)

• co-author, Le Noyau rationnel de la dialectique hégélienne, Maspero, 1977.
  • The Rational Kernel of the Hegelian Dialectic, ed. & trans. Tzuchien Tho, Melbourne: re.press, 2011. (English)

• Théorie du sujet, Paris: Seuil, 1982. [2]
  • Theory of the Subject, trans. Bruno Bosteels, New York: Continuum, 2009. (English)

• Peut-on penser la politique?, Paris: Seuil, 1985.
  • Can Politics Be Thought?, trans. & intro. Bruno Bosteels, Duke University Press, 2019, 147 pp. (English)

• L'Être et l'événement, Paris: Seuil, 1988, 576 pp. [3]
  • L’essere e l’evento, Il Melangolo, 1995. (Italian)
  • Being and Event, trans. Oliver Feltham, New York: Continuum, 2007, 560 pp. [4] (English)

• Manifeste pour la philosophie, Paris: Seuil, 1989.
  • Manifesto for Philosophy, trans. Norman Madarasz, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999. (English)
  • Manifest pentru filosofie, trans. Andreea Raţiu, Cluj: Idea Design & Print, 2008. (Romanian)

• Le nombre et les nombres, Paris: Seuil, 1990.
  • Number and Numbers, Polity, 2008, 240 pp. [5] (English)

• Conditions, Paris: Seuil, 1992.
  • Condiciones, trans. Eduardo Lucio Molina y Vedia, intro. François Wahl, Mexico: Siglo XXI, 1992. [6] (Spanish)
  • Conditions, trans. Steve Corcoran, New York: Continuum, 2009. (English)

• L’éthique, essai sur la conscience du mal, Paris: Hatier, 1993; Caen: NOUS, 2003.
  • Etik, Metis Yayınları, 2013, 181 pp. (Turkish)

• Deleuze. La clameur de l'être, Paris: Hachette, 1997, 184 pp; Paris: Fayard, 2013, 192 pp. [7]
  • Deleuze: The Clamor of Being, trans. Louise Burchill, Minnesota University Press, 1999, 143 pp. (English)
  • Oltre l’uno e il molteplice. Pensare (con) Gilles Deleuze, Ombre Corte, 2007. (Italian)

• Saint Paul. La fondation de l'universalisme, 1997; 2002.
  • Paulus. Die Begründung des Universalismus, Sequenzia, 2002. (German)
  • Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism, trans. Ray Brassier, Stanford University Press, 2003. (English)
  • San Paolo. La fondazione dell’universalismo, Cronopio, 2009. (Italian)

• Abrégé de métapolitique, Paris: Seuil, 1998.
  • Metapolitics, trans. Jason Barker, London: Verso, 2005, 159 pp. [8] (English)

• Court traité d'ontologie transitoire, Paris: Seuil, 1998.
  • Briefings on Existence: A Short Treatise on Transitory Ontology, trans. Norman Madarasz, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2005. (English)

• Petit manuel d'inesthétique, Paris: Seuil, 1998.
  • Handbook of Inaesthetics, trans. Alberto Toscano, Stanford University Press, 2004, 168 pp. (English)
  • Pequeno manual de inestética, Estação Liberdade, 2002. (Portuguese)

• An Essay on the Understanding of Evil, trans. Peter Hallward, London: Verso, 2001, 214 pp. [9] (English)

• Circonstances 1: Kosovo, 11 Septembre, Chirac/Le Pen, 2003.

• Circonstances 2: Irak, foulard, Allemagne/France, 2004.

• Le Siècle, Paris: Seuil, 2005.
  • The Century, trans. Alberto Toscano, Polity, 2007, 248 pp. [10] (English)
  • Il secolo, Feltrinelli, 2006. (Italian)

• Circonstances 3: Portées du mot "juif", 2005.

• Polemics, trans. Steve Corcoran, London: Verso, 2006, 339 pp. [11] (English)

• Logiques des mondes. L'Être et l'événement, 2, Paris: Seuil, 2006.
  • Logics of Worlds: Being and Event, 2, trans. Alberto Toscano, London: Continuum, 2009, xvii+617 pp; repr., London: Bloomsbury, 2013. [12] (English)

• Circonstances 4: De quoi Sarkozy est-il le nom?, Paris: Lignes, 2007. [13]
  • The Meaning of Sarkozy, trans. David Fernbach, London: Verso, 2008, 117 pp. [14] (English)

• L'Antiphilosophie de Wittgenstein, 2007.
  • Wittgensteins Antiphilosophie, Zurich: Diaphanes, 2008, 59 pp. (German)
  • Wittgenstein’s Antiphilosophy, trans. Bruno Bosteels, London: Verso, 2011, 192 pp. [15] (English)

• Petit panthéon portatif, 2008.
  • Pocket Pantheon: Figures of Postwar Philosophy, trans. David Macey, London: Verso, 2009, 208 pp. [16] (English)

• Second manifeste pour la philosophie, Paris: Fayard, 2009, 168 pp; repr., Paris: Flammarion, 2010, 144 pp. [17] [18]
  • Second Manifesto for Philosophy, trans. Louise Burchill, Polity, 2011, 176 pp. [19] (English)

• with Nicolas Truong, Éloge de l'amour, Paris: Flammarion, 2009; new ed., 2016, 112 pp. [20]
  • Lob der Liebe, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2011, 88 pp. [21] (German)
  • In Praise of Love, trans. Peter Bush, London: Serpent's Tail, 2012. (English)
  • Elogio ao amor, Martins Fontes, 2013. (Brazilian Portuguese)
  • Εγκώμιο για τον έρωτα, Εκδόσεις Πατάκη, 2013. (Greek)

• with Barbara Cassin, Heidegger: le nazisme, les femmes, la philosophie, Paris: Fayard, 2010, 112 pp. [22]
  • Heidegger: His Life and His Philosophy, trans. Susan Spitzer, intro. Kenneth Reinhard, Columbia University Press, 2016. (English)

• Circonstances 5: L'hypothèse communiste, Paris: Lignes, 2009. [23]
  • The Communist Hypothesis, trans. David Macey and Steve Corcoran, London: Verso, 2010, 288 pp. [24] (English)
  • A Hipótese Comunista, Boitempo, 2012. (Portuguese)

• with Barbara Cassin, Il n'y a pas de rapport sexuel. Deux leçons sur «L'Etourdit» de Lacan, Paris: Fayard, 2010, 140 pp. [25]
  • There’s No Such Thing as a Sexual Relationship: Two Lessons on Lacan, trans. Susan Spitzer and Kenneth Reinhard, intro. Kenneth Reinhard, Columbia University Press, 2017. (English)

• Cinq leçons sur le cas Wagner, 2010.
  • Five Lessons on Wagner, trans. Susan Spitzer, afterw. Slavoj Žižek, London: Verso, 2010, 224 pp. [26] (English)

• Le fini et l'infini, Montrouge: Bayard, 2010, 58 pp.
  • Das Endliche und das Unendliche, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer, Vienna: Passagen, 2012, 72 pp. [27] (German)

• La relation énigmatique entre politique et philosophie, 2011.

• Beckett: l'increvable désir, Paris: Fayard, 2011, 96 pp. [28]

• with Éric Hazan, L'antisémitisme partout. Aujourd'hui en France, Paris: Fabrique, 2011, 64 pp. [29]
  • Reflections on Anti-Semitism, trans. David Fernbach, London: Verso, 2013, 256 pp. [30] (English)
  • Anti-Semitizm Üzerine, Encore Yayınları, 2014. (Turkish)

• Circonstances 6: Le réveil de l'histoire, Paris: Lignes, 2011, 168 pp. [31]
  • The Rebirth of History: Times of Riots and Uprisings, trans. Gregory Elliott, London: Verso, 2012, 120 pp. [32] (English)
  • Das Erwachen der Geschichte, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2013, 136 pp. [33] (German)

• Circonstances 7: Sarkozy: pire que prévu, les autres: prévoir le pire, Paris: Lignes, 2012. [34]

• L'aventure de la philosophie française: depuis les années 1960, Paris: Fabrique, 2012, 267 pp.
  • Das Abenteuer der französischen Philosophie: seit den 1960ern, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Paul Maercker, Vienna: Passagen, 2015, 256 pp. [35] (German)
  • The Adventure of French Philosophy, ed. Bruno Bosteels, London: Verso, 2012, 430 pp. [36] (English)
  • La aventura de la filosofía francesa, Eterna Cadencia, 2013. (Spanish)

• Philosophy for Militants, trans. Bruno Bosteels, London: Verso, 2012, 122 pp. [37] (English)

• with Nicolas Truong, Éloge du théâtre, Paris: Flammarion, 2013, 96 pp. [38] [39]
  • In Praise of Theatre, Polity, 2015, 90 pp. [40] (English)

• Pornographie du temps présent, Paris: Fayard, 2013, 64 pp. [41]
  • The Pornographic Age, trans. A. J. Bartlett and Justin Clemens, Bloomsbury Academic, 2020, 136 pp. [42] (English)

• Rhapsodie pour le théâtre, Paris: PUF, 2014, 144 pp. [43]
  • Rhapsodie für das Theater: kurze philosophische Abhandlung, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Corinna Popp, Vienna: Passagen, 2015, 132 pp. [44] (German)
  • Rhapsody for the Theatre, London: Verso, 2013, 160 pp. [45] (English)
  • Rapsodia per il Teatro. Arte, politica, evento, Luigi Pellegrino, 2015. (Italian)

• Mathematics of the Transcendental: Onto-logy and being-there, trans. A.J. Bartlett and Alex Ling, London: Bloomsbury, 2014, EPUB. (English)

• The Age of the Poets: And Other Writings on Twentieth-Century Poetry and Prose, trans. Bruno Bosteels, intro. Emily Apter and Bruno Bosteels, London: Verso, 2014, 252 pp. [46] (English)

• A la recherche du réel perdu, Paris: Fayard, 2015, 64 pp, ARG. [47]
  • Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenen Realen, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Paul Maercker, Vienna: Passagen, 2016, 72 pp. [48] (German)

• Métaphysique du bonheur réel, Paris: PUF, 2015, 88 pp. [49]
  • Μεταφυσική της πραγματικής ευτυχίας, Πατάκης, 2015. (Greek)
  • Philosophie des wahren Glücks, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Paul Maercker, Vienna: Passagen, 2016, 104 pp. [50] (German)
  • Happiness, trans. A. J. Bartlett and Justin Clemens, Bloomsbury Academic, 2019, 136 pp. [51] (English)

• with Gilles Haéri, Éloge des mathématiques, Paris: Flammarion, 2015, 128 pp. [52] [53]
  • In Praise of Mathematics, trans. Susan Spitzer, Polity, 2016, 144 pp. [54] (English)
  • Lob der Mathematik, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Christian Leitner, Vienna: Passagen, 2017, 104 pp. [55] (German)
  • Elogio delle matematiche, Mimesis, 2018. (Italian)

• La vraie vie: appel à la corruption de la jeunesse, Paris: Fayard, 2016, 128 pp. [56]
  • The True Life, trans. Susan Spitzer, Malden, MA: Polity, 2017, 80 pp, ARG. [57] (English)
• La vera vita, Ponte alle Grazie, 2016. (Italian)

• Circonstances 8: Un parcours grec, Paris: Lignes, 2016, 160 pp. [58]
  • Greece and the Reinvention of Politics, trans. David Broder, London: Verso, 2018, 112 pp. [59] (English)

• Le Noir, 2016.
  • Black: The Brilliance of a Non-Color, Polity, 2016, 80 pp. [60] (English)

• Notre mal vient de plus loin. Penser les tueries du 13 novembre, Paris: Fayard, 2016, 72 pp. [61]
  • Our Wound is Not So Recent: Thinking the Paris Killings of 13 November, Polity, 2016, 80 pp. [62] (English)

• Je vous sais si nombreux..., Paris: Fayard, 2017, 72 pp. [63]

• Trump. Amerikas Wahl, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Martin Born, Vienna: Passagen, 2017, 72 pp. [64] (German)
  • Trump, Polity, 2019, 80 pp. [65] (English)
  • Trump, Paris: PUF, 2020.

• On a raison de se révolter. L'actualité de Mai 68, Paris: Fayard, 2018, 64 pp. [66]
  • Rebellion ist gerechtfertigt. Zur Aktualität des Mai 68, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2018. [67] (German)

• L’immanence des vérités: l’être et l’événement, 3, Paris: Fayard, 2018, EPUB. Final volume of the Being and Event trilogy.
  • Sometimes, We Are Eternal, eds. Jana Ndiaye Berankova and Norma Hussey, intro. Nick Nesbitt, postf. Jana Ndiaye Berankova, Suture Press, 2019, 190 pp. [68] (English)

• Der zeitgenössische Nihilismus. Bilder der Gegenwart I, trans. Martin Born, Vienna: Passagen, 2018. [69] (German)

• Migrants and Militants, trans. Joseph Litvak, Polity, 2020, 60 pp. [70] (English)

Theatre plays

• Ahmed le subtil, Arles: Actes Sud, 1994, 96 pp. [71]

• Ahmed philosophe, suivi de Ahmed se fâche, Arles: Actes sud, 1995, 153 pp; new ed., 1997. [72]
  • Ahmed the Philosopher: Thirty-four Short Plays for Children and Everyone Else, trans. Joseph Litvak, New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. (English)

• Les citrouilles, Arles: Actes Sud, 1996, 122 pp. [73]

• La Tétralogie d'Ahmed. Ahmed le Subtil - Ahmed philosophe - Ahmed se fâche - Les Citrouilles, Arles: Actes Sud, 2010, 532 pp. [74]

• La République de Platon, Paris: Fayard, 2012, 600 pp. [75]
  • Plato's Republic: A Dialogue in 16 Chapters, trans. Susan Spitzer, Polity, 2013, 320 pp. [76] (English)
  • A República de Platão - Recontada Por Alain Badiou, Zahar, 2014. (Portuguese)

• The Incident at Antioch: A Tragedy in Three Acts / L'incident d'antioche: tragédie en trois actes, intro. Kenneth Reinhard, trans. Susan Spitzer, New York: Columbia University Press, 2013, li+160 pp. (English)/(French)
  • Der Vorfall bei Antiochien. Tragödie in drei Akten, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Corinna Popp, Vienna: Passagen, 2013, 112 pp. [77] (German)

• Le second procès de Socrate, Actes Sud, 2015, 112 pp. [78]
  • Der zweite Sokrates-Prozess, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2018, 160 pp. [79] (German)

• La République de Platon, suivi de L'Incident d'Antioche, Paris: Fayard, 2016, 520 pp. [80]

• Ahmed revient, Arles: Actes Sud, 2018, 48 pp. [81]

Fiction

• Portulans, Paris: Seuil, 1967. Novel.

Interviews, conversations

• with Slavoj Žižek, Philosophie und Aktualität. Ein Streitgespräch, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Maximilian Probst and Sebastian Raedler, Vienna: Passagen, 2005, 104 pp. [82] (German)
  • Philosophy in the Present, trans. Peter Thomas and Alberto Toscano, Cambridge: Polity, 2009, xii+104 pp. [83] (English)

• with Fabien Tarby, La philosophie et l'événement, Germina, 2009, 192 pp.
  • Philosophy and the Event, trans. Louise Burchill, Polity, 2013, 160 pp. [84]

• with Alain Finkielkraut, L'explication: conversation avec Aude Lancelin, Paris: Lignes, 2010, 172 pp. [85]
  • Klartext. Eine Kontroverse, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2013, 156 pp. [86] (German)
  • Confrontation: A Conversation with Aude Lancelin, Cambridge: Polity, 2014, 166 pp. [87] (English)

• Philosophie und die Idee des Kommunismus. Im Gespräch mit Peter Engelmann, eds. Peter Engelmann and Marie-Christine Baratta, trans. Erwin Steinbach, Vienna: Passagen, 2013, 112 pp. [88] (German)
  • Quel communisme? Entretien avec Peter Engelmann, 2015.
  • Philosophy and the Idea of Communism: Alain Badiou in Conversation with Peter Engelmann, trans. Susan Spitzer, Cambridge: Polity, 2015, 120 pp, EPUB. [89] (English)

• with Elisabeth Roudinesco, Jacques Lacan, passé présent, 2013.
  • Jacques Lacan, Past and Present: A Dialogue, trans. Jason E. Smith, New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. (English)

• with Marcel Gauchet, Que faire? Dialogue sur le communisme, le capitalisme et l'avenir de la démocratie, Paris: Philo, 2014, 161 pp.
  • What Is to Be Done? A Dialogue on Communism, Capitalism, and the Future of Democracy, trans. Susan Spitzer, Cambridge: Polity, 2015, xvi+155 pp. [90] (English)
  • Was tun? Dialog über den Kommunismus, den Kapitalismus und die Zukunft der Demokratie, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2016, 160 pp. [91] (German)

• with Jean-Claude Milner, Controversies: Politics and Philosophy in our Time, London: Polity, 2014, 200 pp. [92] (English)

• Für eine Politik des Gemeinwohls: im Gespräch mit Peter Engelmann, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Martin Born, Vienna: Passagen, 2017, 120 pp. [93] (German)
  • For a Politics of the Common Good, Polity, 2019, 140 pp. [94] (English)

• with Aude Lancelin, Éloge de la politique, Paris: Flammarion, 2017, 144 pp. [95]
  • In Praise of Politics, Polity, 2019, 120 pp. [96] (English)

• with Giovanbattista Tusa, De la fin. Conversations, 2017.
  • The End: A Conversation, trans. Robin Mackay, Cambridge: Polity, 2019, 160 pp. [97] (English)

• with Maria Kakogianni, Entretien platonicien, Paris: Lignes, 2015. [98]

• with Jean-Luc Nancy, La tradition allemande dans la philosophie, ed. & afterw. Jan Völker, Paris: Lignes, 2017, 76 pp. [99]
  • German Philosophy: A Dialogue, trans. Richard Lambert, MIT Press, 2018. (English)

Lectures

• Le Séminaire. Malebranche. L'être 2 - Figure théologique, 1986, Paris: Fayard, 2013, 256 pp. [100]
  • Malebranche: Theological Figure, Being 2, Columbia University Press, 2019. (English)

• Le Séminaire. Lacan. L'antiphilosophie 3, 1994-1995, Paris: Fayard, 2013, 288 pp. [101]
  • Lacan: Anti-Philosophy 3, trans. Kenneth Reinhard and Susan Spitzer, intro. Kenneth Reinhard, Columbia University Press, 2018, 312 pp. [102] (English)

• Le Séminaire. Images du temps présent, 2001-2004, ed. Isabelle Vodoz, Paris: Fayard, 2014, 472 pp. [103]

• Le Séminaire. Parménide. L'être 1 - Figure ontologique, 1985-1986, Paris: Fayard, 2014, 280 pp, ARG/EPUB. [104]

• Le Séminaire. Heidegger. L'être 3 - Figure du retrait, 1986-1987, Paris: Fayard, 2015, 368 pp. [105]

• Le Séminaire. Nietzsche. L'antiphilosophie 1, 1992-1993, Paris: Fayard, 2015, 336 pp. [106]

• Le Séminaire. L'Un. Descartes, Platon, Kant, 1983-1984, Paris: Fayard, 2016, 296 pp. [107]

• Le Séminaire. L'infini. Aristote, Spinoza, Hegel, 1984-1985, Paris: Fayard, 2016, 336 pp. [108]

• Qu'est-ce que j'entends par marxisme? Une conférence donnée par Alain Badiou au séminaire étudiant Lectures de Marx, Paris: Ed. sociales, 2016, 96 pp.
  • Was verstehe ich unter Marxismus? Vortrag vom 18. April 2016 an der École normale supérieure, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Richard Steurer-Boulard, Vienna: Passagen, 2018, 64 pp. [109] (German)

• Le Séminaire. Que signifie "changer le monde?" 2010-2012, Paris: Fayard, 2017, 320 pp. [110]

• Le Séminaire. Vérité et sujet, 1987-1988, Paris: Fayard, 2017, 384 pp. [111]

• Le Séminaire. Théorie du mal, théorie de l'amour, 1990-1991, Paris: Fayard, 2018, 192 pp. [112]

• I Know There Are So Many of You, trans. Susan Spitzer, Polity, 2018, 72 pp. [113] (English)

Selected works

• Infinite Thought: Truth and the Return to Philosophy, trans. & ed. Oliver Feltham and Justin Clemens, London: Continuum, 2003. (English)
  • Sonsuz Düşünce, Metis Yayınları, 2012. (Turkish)

• On Beckett, trans. & ed. Alberto Toscano and Nina Power, London: Clinamen Press, 2003. (English)

• Theoretical Writings, eds. & trans. Ray Brassier and Alberto Toscano, New York: Continuum, 2004, ARG. (English)

• Cinéma, Nova, 2010.
  • Cinema, ed. & intro. Antoine de Baecque, trans. Susan Spitzer, Malden, MA: Polity, 2013, 320 pp. [114] (English)
  • Kino. Gesammelte Schriften zum Film, ed. Peter Engelmann, trans. Paul Maercker, Vienna: Passagen, 2014, 368 pp. [115] (German)

Bibliography

• Short Alain Badiou Bibliography (English)

Literature

• Emile Jalley, Badiou avec Lacan, Roudinesco, Assoun, Granon-Lafont, Paris: Harmattan, 2014.
• Steven Corcoran, The Badiou Dictionary, Edinburgh University Press, 2015. (English)

Links

• http://www.badioustudies.org/
• http://mideastdilemma.com/alain_badiou_archive.html
• Wikipedia