Philosophy, Sophistry, Antiphilosophy: Badiou's Dispute with Lyotard

(Hardback)

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Alain Badious work in philosophy, though daunting, has gained a receptive and steadily growing Anglophone readership. What is not well known is the extent to which Badious positions, vis--vis ontology, ethics, politics and the very meaning of philosophy, were hammered out in dispute with the late Jean-Franois Lyotard. Matthew R. McLennan's Philosophy, Sophistry, Antiphilosophy is the first work to pose the question of the relation between Lyotard and Badiou, and in so doing constitutes a significant intervention in the field of contemporary European philosophy by revisiting one of its most influential and controversial forefathers. Badiou himself has underscored the importance of Lyotard for his own project; might the recent resurgence of interest in Lyotard be tied in some way to Badious comments Or deeper still: might not Badious philosophical Platonism beg an encounter with philosophys other, the figure of the sophist that Lyotard played so often and so ably Posing pertinent questions and opening new discursive channels in the literature on these two major figures this book is of interest to those studying philosophy, rhetoric, literary theory, cultural and media studies.

Reviews

They say too many books are written. I'm not so sure. So long as a book is read by someone at some time. Even if it is not read, like a redemptive private diary which never goes beyond a locked drawer, the process of writing can be enough. I am sure that some books need to be written. This book was necessary. It is the first book on the encounters, disputes, agreements and commentaries bringing Jean-Franois Lyotard and Alain Badiou together. A thorough and accurate resource. -- James Williams, Deakin University, USA * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
This book traces the argumentative dispute between Alain Badiou and Jean-Francois Lyotard, two of the most radical and influential thinkers of recent times. In its remarkable staging of this dispute it is both a model of scholarly exegesis and a challenging engagement with the fate of philosophy today. In this sense, it is a fitting tribute to the profound and provocative thought of both philosophers. I recommend it to those interested in the work of either Badiou or Lyotard, and to anyone who cares about the challenge of philosophy to our contemporary complacencies. * Keith Crome, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, Politics and Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK *
The philosopher vs. the sophist -- the Badiou vs. Lyotard dispute -- is the fight over the meaning of philosophy and so the struggle for its existence. McLennan lucidly explicates the crucial arguments between these two thinkers, in view of the ultimate question: whose thinking is better suited to sustain the philosophical desire, philosophy as resistance Positioned by anti-philosophy, the answer McLennan proposes is true, post-correlationist elegance. * Michael J Kelly, Visiting Professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *
This work is to be commended for its insistence on a certain philosophical militancy. It ranges over questions of being, ethics, politics, and the very status of philosophy itself in the works of two important contemporary thinkers, neither of whom have always been read in strictly philosophical terms. In taking on a critical interchange that until now has been little known to English readers, it starts thinking down an as yet largely untrodden path: this book offers the first strident steps. * Peter W. Milne, Assistant Professor, Department of Aesthetics, Seoul National University, South Korea *

Author Bio

Matthew R. McLennan is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Public Ethics at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada.