In Praise of Philosophy
Alain Badiou
- What
- kind
- of
- philosophy
- do
- we
- need
- for
- the
- 21st
- century?
- To
- answer
- to
- this
- question,
- Alain
- Badiou
- imagines
- a
- dialogue
- between
- Tocéras,
- an
- earnest
- and
- engaging
- professor,
- and
- various
- interlocutors
- from
- different
- countries
- and
- philosophical
- cultures
- –
- John
- After
- from
- Britain,
- Amantha
- from
- Greece,
- B’adj
- Akil
- from
- Senegal,
- Xi
- La
- Pong
- from
- China
- and
- several
- others.
- Their
- conversation
- takes
- readers
- on
- a
- playful
- journey
- through
- the
- history
- of
- philosophy
- framed
- by
- the
- five
- great
- questions
- that
- have
- preoccupied
- Alain
- Badiou:
- democracy,
- freedom,
- universality,
- language
- and
- being.At
- the
- same
- time,
- philosophy
- is
- presented
- not
- as
- a
- system
- or
- doctrine
- but
- as
- movement
- and
- dialogue.
- The
- philosopher
- is
- not
- a
- solitary
- figure;
- he
- is
- inseparable
- from
- his
- pupils,
- his
- disciples
- and
- his
- adversaries.
- It
- is
- only
- at
- the
- end
- of
- the
- journey
- that
- he
- arrives
- at
- the
- written,
- stable
- forms
- of
- his
- work.
- So
- we
- are
- dealing
- more
- with
- a
- play
- than
- a
- treatise,
- more
- with
- dialogues
- than
- monologues,
- more
- with
- a
- course
- than
- a
- book.
- The
- obvious
- model
- is
- Plato's
- Socrates,
- who,
- in
- founding
- philosophy
- as
- a
- discipline,
- ensured
- that
- it
- could
- be
- established
- anywhere
- in
- the
- world.
- In
- praise,
- yes,
- of
- philosophy
- as
- the
- public
- creation
- of
- a
- thought
- that,
- inventing
- itself
- and
- transporting
- itself
- anywhere,
- speaking
- to
- anyone
- about
- anything,
- invents
- the
- theatricalization
- of being.
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