Second manifesto for philosophy
By: Alain Badiou ; translated by Louise Burchill
Contributors: Burchill, Louise, transl
Edition: English ed.
Publisher: Polity
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 164
ISBN-13: 9780745648613; 9780745648620
Subjects: Philosophie; Modern Philosophy
Work titles: Second manifeste pour la philosophie
Description: Twenty years ago, Alain Badiou's first Manifesto for Philosophy rose up against the all-pervasive proclamation of the "end" of philosophy. In lieu of this problematic of the end, he put forward the watchword: "one more step". The situation has considerably changed since then. Philosophy was threatened with obliteration at the time, whereas today it finds itself under threat for the diametrically opposed reason: it is endowed with an excessive, artificial existence. "Philosophy" is everywhere. It serves as a trademark for various media pundits. It livens up cafe s and health clubs. It has its magazines and its gurus. It is universally called upon, by everything from banks to major state commissions, to pronounce on ethics, law and duty. In essence, "philosophy" has now come to stand for nothing other than its most ancient enemy: conservative ethics. Badiou's second manifesto therefore seeks to demoralize philosophy and to separate it from all those "philosophies" that are as servile as they are ubiquitous. It demonstrates the power of certain eternal truths to illuminate action and, as such, to transport philosophy far beyond the figure of "the human" and its "rights". There, well beyond all moralism, in the clear expanse of the idea, life becomes something radically other than survival. -- Cover.
Notes: Originally published in French as: Second manifeste pour la philosophie. Paris : Fayard, c2009.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Opinion; title: Appearance; title: Differentiation; title: Existence; title: Philosophy's existence; title: Mutation; title: Incorporation; title: Subjectivation; title: Ideation.