In praise of love
By: Alain Badiou with Nicolas Truong ; translated by Peter Bush
Contributors: Truong, Nicolas; Bush, Peter R., 1946-
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Published: 2012
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 104
ISBN-13: 9781846687792
Subjects: Interviews; Philosophy; Love
Work titles: Eloge de l'amour
Description: Love without risks is like war without deaths - but, today, love is threatened by an alliance of liberalism and hedonism. Caught between consumerism and casual sexual encounters devoid of passion, love - without the key ingredient of chance - is in danger of withering on the vine. In In Praise of Love, Alain Badiou takes on contemporary 'dating agency' conceptions of love that come complete with zero-risk insurance - like US zero-casualty bombs. He develops a new take on love that sees it as an adventure, and an opportunity for re-invention, in a constant exploration of otherness and difference that leads the individual out of an obsession with identity and self. Liberal, libertine and libertarian reductions of love to instant pleasure and non-commitment bite the dust as Badiou invokes a supporting cast of thinkers from Plato to Lacan via Karl Marx to form a new narrative of romance, relationships and sex - a narrative that does not fear love.
Notes: Translation of: Eloge de l'amour.
Table of contents: title: Love under threat; title: Philosophers and love; title: The construction of love; title: The truth of love; title: Love and politics; title: Love and art.