Controversies

Alain Badiou was Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and is one of the most widely read and influential philosophers writing today. Jean-Claude Milner is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the Université de Paris-VII, and a former director of the Collège Internationale de Philosophie (1998-2001).

• Foreword: “Unreconciled” by Philippe Petit1 An original dispute2 Considerations on the revolution, law, and mathematics3 The infinite, the universal, and the name “Jew”4 The right, the left, and France in generalPostscriptNotesBibliographyIndex of Names

"Badiou has established himself as both one of the last great master thinkers of the twentieth-century, and as the author of a powerfully new ontology capable of opening twenty-first century thought beyond the anthropomorphism of phenomenology and the social sciences. This volume, which is a genuine dialogue, profoundly enriches our understanding of Badiou's thought. The work of Jean-Claude Milner is perhaps the best possible foil and counter-thrust to the mastery of Badiou's philosophy. The topics here range from the most abstract to the most acutely political, and provoke thought even for those not interested in the minutiae of contemporary French thought."Claire Colbrook, Penn State University"What a refreshing change from the regurgitated consensual discussions that pass for political discourse in our media and intellectual life."Morning Star"The book is a brilliant demonstration of philosophical rigour over the usual 'philosophy as blood-sport.'"Political Studies Review