Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Norman Madarasz (Translator)

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"..An excellent introduction to the work of one of the most important philosophers writing today, Manifesto for Philosophy will undoubtedly quicken the discourse that has become too comfortable with its own death."--Joan Copjec, author of Read My Desire: Lacan against the Historicists

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791442209
• ISBN-13: 978-0791442203
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #875,520 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy or Sophistry?, January 2, 2000

By A Customer

If anything, Badiou's book poses a serious challenge to the dominance of Heidegger in continental philosophy today. Philosophy can never announce its own end, the end of philosophy. Neither can philosophy pretend to lose itself in the linguistic turn, in the shift from logic and reason to poetry. Philosophy, Badiou argues, must be distinguished from sophistry. Just as Plato founded philosophy from the thralls of sophism of his age, we too must recapture the 'Platonism' of philosophy in an age of anti-Platonism. Badiou's middle course between Plato, on one hand, and the likes of Heidegger and Deleuze, on the other hand, proposes the ideal of philosophy that is not-yet and, more importantly, not reducible to extreme conclusions, i.e., the rejection of philosophy as a dead endeavor. Philosophy is not the antithesis of sophism, and in this the true opposed to the false, but Badiou contends that sophism is a necessary partner of philosophy. In this schema, philosophy must be distinguished from sophism; that is, we must uphold a conception of truth, or rather, of truths. Philosophy seeks the truth in the plural, truth as multiple but which is nevertheless truth and not relative 'truth.'

In 'Manifesto,' Badiou engages with the dominant currents of philosophy today in order to reimagine the possibility of philosophy despite the skeptics. In the anglo-american vs. continental split in contemporary philosophy, one is often left to choose two impossible alternatives: logic or poetry. In 'Manifesto' Badiou opens up another way, a way that is a return to that which has always been with us all along.