interview with Badiou: Towards a new idea of \u200b\u200btruth and balance of twentieth century philosophy By Gustavo Santiago
For La Nacion, Buenos Aires, August 16, 2000
The author of "Being and event ", one of the most important philosophical treatises of the past decades, refers to the sterility of the apocalyptic judgments announcing the end of philosophy. It also proposes to overcome the nihilism that characterized the twentieth century intellectual history.
Alain Badiou is undoubtedly one of the leading figures of contemporary philosophy. He is director of third cycle University of Paris VIII, a professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure and the International College of Philosophy and author of a vast work that includes philosophical essays, political, scientific and literary texts. Among his titles include "Deleuze. The cry of Being ", which is confronted with his" adversary philosophical "about the concepts of event and multiplicity, and" Being and Event ", his seminal work, and perhaps one of the most important books of philosophy the last decades of the twentieth century, which, based on the relationship between mathematics and philosophy, raises the possibility of thinking a new idea of \u200b\u200btruth, according to the conditions of our time.
say that Badiou was on a visit to Argentina would not be entirely successful because, in fact, developed an intense activity. Delivered lectures, short seminars, participated in programs in various media and even signed copies of "Being and Event" (editorial Spring). In attempting to explain the enormous impact of its presence in Argentina, ventured that "the period of deconstruction, the period of skepticism about the possibilities of philosophy is weakening" and that "this leads to people more interested in a philosophy yes, more rationalist able to propose to thought, action, something other than a resignation to the world as it is. "
Badiou defines himself as" a fighter against contemporary nihilism and expertise. "His effort is directed towards finding a universal truth understood as a singularity. That truth that originated the event and the work of the subject, acquired a universal value, is related to both the rigor of science as with the poetic sensibility and love.
- In reading "Being and Event", what is surprising is the place that gives you the math there. While philosophy and mathematics there is a close relationship that goes back to the origins of both disciplines, an expression like "math is the science of being as being" seems too risky.
"My thesis is, in fact, that mathematics is the thinking of being indeterminate, ie, of being without qualities, without their specific predicates. When it is reduced to mere property of being, is a kind of pure abstraction that is indistinguishable from that of the spoken mathematics. And in that sense I say, actually, that mathematics is ontology. This does not mean that being is mathematical, but writing mathematics is appropriate for the thought of being. This indicates at the same time, a sort of cleansing of philosophy. The philosophy is to deal with something different from the question of being, but considering the fact that the thought of being a mathematician. The philosophy is, then, theory of truth and not theory of being.
- Here intervenes the concept of event?
"Yes." For if the truth is not a consequence of being strict, it is necessary between the self and the truth has something, something that is not being, and is more like a kind of disappearing. An appearance-disappearance. That's what I call event. It is a sort of chance that comes in addition to being and it will be the source of all truth. Hence the title of my book "Being and Event", which means also "being and truth," and "mathematics and philosophy."
"This truth that must deal with philosophy, is a universal truth?
-The relationship between universality and singularity is essential to understand what is the truth. If the origin of what we call truth is the chance of an event, then all truth is quite unique. And the subject of this truth, subjects who are faithful to the event are also unique individuals working in particular situations. But at the same time would make no sense to speak of fidelity to true if this event was strictly singular. If you are not interested in anyone but those in this issue, we would have, not true but simply a particular reality. Then, think that this singular fidelity to the event build something that has universal value. And the most important concepts of "Being and Event" purport to show that there may be something like a universal singularity. That is a truth: something unique side-side event and universal consequences. The important thing is to understand exactly how, from an absolutely singular event (the Revolution Of 1789, for example) in a particular situation (in this case, the France of the late eighteenth century) was built something that is universal because it involves mankind in its entire history.
- Can you take stock of the philosophy of the twentieth century?
"The situation of philosophy in the twentieth century was, as you know, very complex. I think the main currents of philosophy rushed to conclude an end of philosophy in its traditional form. To give the main examples, both logical positivism and analytical philosophy argued that the trial was devoid of metaphysical sense and philosophy in its traditional form should be replaced by a logical analysis of the possibilities of language. Heidegger himself announced that we were in the period of the end of metaphysics and that it should await the move to what he called "a thought." Marxism, in turn, quickly proclaimed that philosophy had been interpreting the world and should be replaced by the revolutionary transformation of that world. And, at the dawn of the century, we had to Nietzsche also announced, as they put it, that will break in two world history and the old complicity between metaphysics and religion Christian is going to break. It is very striking that currents as opposed to each other have been put forward, almost all, the question of an end of philosophy, ie an end to what he had started with Plato. And in that sense, the century has been an essential anti-Platonic.
My own position on this as we begin a new century is to be back on this opinion and consider it as a kind of apocalyptic sign of the twentieth century. The idea that the twentieth century put an end to a great period of history was very powerful, but I think now is saturated and is unproductive. If we maintain the philosophy to life and make it more than a college major, must assume the risk of going beyond the nihilism that holds the impotence of thought, and dare to suggest, considering the conditions of our time, a new idea of \u200b\u200btruth.
We invite you to freely make comments on this interview. For a common reflection, we suggest the following:
How to understand the concept of "truth" today?
What questions asked of Badiou?
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