Confrontation

Alain Badiou is a writer, philosopher, and professor emeritus of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Alain Finkielkraut is a professor at the École Polytechnique in Paris and host of the radio show “Répliques” on France-Culture. Aude Lancelin is a journalist at Le Nouvel Observateur.

• Foreword by Aude Lancelin1. National Identity and Nations2. Judaism, Israel, and Universalism3. May ’684. Communism (Past and Future)Translator’s NotesBibliography

"Somewhere beyond belief in the possibility of consensus and disbelief in the mutability of hostilities, these two unlikely interlocutors - powerful defenders of opposed positions - agreed to sit down and have it out. Their heated, sometimes harsh, debate may not persuade you to surrender your own leanings, but it will force you to rethink the terms in which you affirm them and the way you push back against the other side. This is a rare and enlightening interchange."Joan Copjec, University of Buffalo"Anyone who fears that ferocious, intelligent, philosophically informed argument about the state of the world may be a thing of the past should open this book. After reading these debates, vividly translated by Susan Spitzer, in which two of France's leading intellectuals hammer out their starkly opposed positions, they will come away enlightened and invigorated."Peter Dews, University of Essex