alain badiou - the theory of the subject

8/12/2019 Alain Badiou - The Theory of the Subject

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7eory the Subject, rst published inFrance in 1982, is wihou doubt oneof lain Badiou's mos imporant works,aying many of he foundaions for hismagnum opus, Being and Event and isfolow-up, Logics Worlds.

Here Badiou seeks o provide a heoryof the subjec for Marxsm througha study of Lacanian psychoanaysis,oering a major conribuion oMarxsm, as we as to he larger debaeregarding he relaionship beweenpsychoanlysis and phiosophy Te bookaso provdes a theory of srucuralhough, a contemporary redeniionof maerism, a unique evauaionof he achievemens of French Maoismduring he 1970s and the signicanceof he events of May 968, andbreahakng analyses of lieraure, fromGreek ragedy o Maarms poetry.

As a heoreica synhesis, he book isexraordinary in terms of is originaiy, breadh and cariy

Bu teaches a the coeNormae Suprieure and a theCollge Inernational de Phiosophie

in Paris, France. In addiion o severanoves, plays and poiicl essays, hehas published a number of majorphilosophical works

B B is Associae Professor of

Romance Sudies a Cornell Universiy,USA, and auhor of Badiou 0 el recomienzodel materialismo diactico (Saniago deChie, 2007) and Badiou and Politics(forhcoming, Duke Universiy Press)

Jck mg by d rshdmccm


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Alo available ro Coiuu:

Being and Event, Aai adiouConditions Alai adiouInnite Thought Alai adiouLogics of Worlds Alai adiouTheo of the Subject Alai adiouSeeing the Invisible, Miel erreAfter Finitude Que MeillaouxDissensus aue RaireThe Politis of Aesthetis, aque RaireThe Five Senses, Mel erreArt and ear al VirilioNegative Horizon, al VirilioDesert Screen, aul Viilio

THEORY OF THE UBJECTan Badou

rste wth trct by rstees

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vi

CONENS

hr a no uch thn a ca rationEvry ubjc cro a lack of bn and a ductionh ubjct antcdnc to tlf

1 2 132140

oion 148hoy of h ubjct accordin o Sophocl hoy of h

ubjct accodin to Achylu 18Of th trand of th kno to know only h colour 69

Pat IV A Mateiaist Revesa of Mateiaism h black hp of matiam 9h indiolubl alt of tuth 90Anwrno th Sphnxdmand fom h ubjct not to

hav o anwfo th SphinxAlba and topoloyihbourhoodContncy cond nam of h al aft h cauSo litl onoloy

Pat V ubetivization and ubjetive Poess

h opolocal oppoit of th knot i not th cudiprionbut th dtuconcompoion

Subjctivizin anticipaton troaction of th ubjctiv pocHuy Hurry Word of th vin!h inxitnoic of th xc

Pat VI Topis of Ethis

Wh?

h ubjciv twit ' andDaonal of h imanay

SchmaEthc a h dipation of th paadox of patianhipClaica dtourov wha you will nv bliv twc

Tansato'S Endnotes and Refeenes

Themati Repetoie

Index of Pope Names

2 0 2082 224234

24

243248242926

22

28293043093 324

3 3 33 936

ansator's ntrodtion

horie du ujet which hrby at lat bcom avaiabl in Enlih ranlation i Alain adiou mo paiona and xprmnta book n trmof h pronal namnt it i prhap compaabl only to hi alynovl Amagete ( 1964) and Portuan ( 19 6) or to hi wiin fo hhat uch a h opra novl Lhare rouge, whch dat fom ham prod ( 99 o Ahmed e ubti a hlaiou farc compod in 1 984durn a brf piod of iolation and cam hotly aftr th prnt bookwa rt publihd n Frnch my y Thore du ujet alo adioumot dain hrmtc an d bwdin work of philoophy and h mthat ha pad inc it oinal apparanc ony m to hav addd toh ffct of bwildmnt Som intoductoy mak may thrfor bn odr o a to tuat h book in t wdr contxt

Pnd in th form of a mna btwn anuay 1 9 and un 99 which i to ay duin th cou of th ocalld rd yar ( 1 9666 and in a im tha woud win th dplorabl ri to fam of thnw phloophr ( 96 a wll a h fal hop uroundin th cation of h common proamm (ind n 192) unitin CommuntSociali and radica Lft in ranc wttn in th mid of wha canony b cald an acv campain of otacm aain it auhor bcauof hi undyn Maom with om on o fa a o call him a Maoitpitbull and pubhd n 1982 in h aftrmah of th wdly clbatdlctoral victoy in 1981 of Fan


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vii

TRANSATORS INRODCTION

uphoria o it tim o th contrary oitud ony m to hav had anmbodnin fct n th n w coud appy adiou own wordtakn from Saint Pau The oundation of Univeraim to th author oth prnt book Evrythin indcat that h rfud any compromiwhn it cam to dity to prncip Or aan Hi dicour i on ofpur dty to th poibiity opnd by th vnt h pvota vntin th ca bin not o much th outburt of May 68, who rmark-

ab ntnity and hortivd xprncth two uuay on hand inhand withn th tradition of utraftimth book othrwi ao kto dano o much a th patnt acton ndd to work out th con-qunc o thi uprin durin th rt haf of th 90 in th ui ornch Maoim

h uphot o thi prncipd not to ay tubborn approach i a workwho ndary difcuty unt rcnty turnd away many mor radrthan it attractd atn admirr vn from amon adiou mot ardntoowr A Ptr Haward admt: Thorie du ujet i by any crtriath mot difcut to approach o adou work Rumour ha t thatfor a on tim n tudnt circ around th Unvrity o ParV atVincnn whr adiou tauht or thirty yar bfor occupyn thpot o hi ormr tachr Loui Athur a had o th PhoophyDpartmnt at th co orma Suprur n ru dUm to point anr at omon and whipr that h or h wa n th proc of radnThorie du ujet wa tantamount to dcarn th pron thr nan orfanatica i not both at onc Th rumour o a on way toward xpan-n th batd arrva o th book tranaton in any anua and vnmor o th rativ carcty of utaind critica namnt with itcntra th

oday howvr thr can b no doubt that Theo of the Subject tand

a an ndipnab buidn bock in th ovrarchin ytm of adiouphioophy on a par wth hi two othr bi book Being and Event andt rcnt oowup Logi of Word. o utrat thi cntraity prhap may b aowd to invok my prona xprinc a omon whoatr radin adiou Manifeto for Phioophy out o a hard intrt ina noton o th 'nric that woud b compatb with Patonim forpoitca raon turnd to th Maot pampht from th mid 90Theo of Contradition and Of Ideoogy, and thn dcidd to tack Theo ofthe Subject I ditincty rmmbr havin at down amot nontopthiwa bfor th birth of my two onfor an ncrdiby on wkndrantcay makin my way throuh th ntir book a thouh t wr

RANS AO RS INTRODCION

a nov o ntriu frqunty burtin out in auhtrt ao anxtrmy funny bookand n nra nn a thou h th who dof contmporary thory and phooph y opn up rhy bor my yaon th harpt n o dmarcaton to hav bn tracd n th andinc Athur or Marx A o thi happnd on bfor I mutrd thcoura and dard to tak on Being and Event, ntimidatd a I wanvrmnd that for adiou th a cutura prjudic that i a vacuou a t

tubbornby th formaiaton o t xtniv mathmatica apparatuRadn Theo ofthe Subject bor Being and Event thouh i not mrya mattr of prona prfrnc or ancdota happntanc Atr yar oactivy oown th wordwid rcption o adou thouht in fact hav com to th concuion that thi ordr o radn which omwhatconvntonay corrpond to th chronooica ordr o th book pub-icaton and thu to thir author trajctory a a phoophr and mitantvn thouh it run countr to th mor common practic amon Enh-pakin radr who tnd to tart with on or othr of th book pub-ihd and tranatd atr Being and Event, mak a th difrnc in thword n trm of th ima o thouht that can b attrbutd to adouphioophy a a who Abov a thr whr a privid ocu on Beingand Event frqunty ad to th concuon that thi thnkr tractoryinvov a can a nd irrvrib brak away from th traditon of th dia-ctc Theo of the Subject aow th radr both to nuanc f not xactyrut thi concuon a far a th da of th brak tf i concrndand to uncovr ubt dactica thrad vn in th ovra mtaontooca arumntation whch roundd in a oid command o t thory iuppod to com aftr thi brak

2

For ur n hindht t i not dicut to numrat th pob mita-tion and hortcomin of Theo ofthe Subjet n Being and Event, rt ofa adiou hm ndcat that th arr book rmain imtd noara t pruppo rom th tart that thr i uch a thn a ubctivtywthout ivin thi pruppoton much ontooca upport n math-matic Prhap thi criticim i unncariy harh inc Theo ofthe Subject, vn thouh t i otn forottn arady introduc thwho qution o Cantorian t thory a th way to th pont of ocat-in th mrnc or pa of th ubct in th immaurab xc of


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TRANSATORS INTRODCTON

incluion over belonin or of prt over el ementn exce wc willcontitute te centrl impe in te conceptul rrnement of Beingand Event. Even o it true tt only te lter work will ytemticlyelborte te underpinnin of ti tei from metontooicl tt ito y metmtemticl point of view A dou write in te Prefcee (pioopcl) ttement tt mtemtic i ontooyte cienceof bein qua beini te troke o lit tt illuminte te pecultve

cene wc d retricted in my Theo of the Subject by preuppoinpurely nd imply tt tere w ome ubjectiviztion e new tkn Being an d Event ten conit in rticultin by wy of te impe ofbein coerent ontoloy toeter wit n interventonit teory of teubject tk wic dilectcl mterilm in te old dy would veccomplied by men of n omoloy between te dilectc o nturend te dlectic of pirt nd wic tody require creful reormultion of bot pole o nture nd pirit or of ubtnce nd ubjecttitime in Being and Event bove ll in n obique polemic wt Hedeernd not ony or not primrily wit Lcn i te ce in Theo of theSubject.

Piloopy itelf econdly till pper to be utured onto te olecondition of politic e oter tree trut procedure of rt (poetry ndtredy) cence (mtemtc) nd love (pyconlyi) well te etern dow condition o reliion (Critinity)certinly re lllredy preent but not only re tey mplicit nd mxed tey o do noteem to operte qute yet condition of poopy in te trict eneince te ubject of trut i dened excluvely n term of politic Everyubect i politic Wic wy tere re ew ubject nd rrely nypolitic Lter n Condition collection of ey wic build on tenew foundtion of Being and Event diou woud correct ti ttementfrom Theo of the Subject ody I would no oner y "every ubect ipoliticl wic i till mxim of uturin I woud rter y "Everyubect i nduced by eneric procedure nd tu depend on n eventWic i wy te ubject rre Smilrly n Manifeto for Phioophydiou tte te principle tt te four domin of trut once tey reunutured nd eprted out re l eqully cpble of brnin into exit-ence ubect Every ubject i rttc centic polticl or morouede ti i ometin veryone know rom experience for out otee reiter tere i only exitence or individulty but no ubjectWt will remin uncned in ny ce i te conviction tt ubjectnd trut necerily cimplicte one noter o tt teory of te

TRANSATORS INRODCTON

ubect t te frtet remove rom ny purely experientil or morlccount i lwy te teory of te orml condition for te emerenceof univerizble trut

Trdly witin te condition of politic te book till conider teprty te only efectve orniztionl tructure lbet wit n eye towrd prty of new type tt i form o potennim woe tk iere openly crbed to Mom Gon one tep furter tn merey

cknowledin te uncertntie o ti tk iven te undenible criiof Mrxim dou nce ten bndoned t trict identction ofte politcl ubect wit te prty wic in l t incrntion over tept centuryweter nle prty or prt of te prmentryeectorl multprty ytem remined overly bound to te orm ote Stte e blnce eet of te nineteent century i te witerinwy o te cteory o cl te oe berer o politc nd te blnceeet o te twentiet century te witern wy of te prtyformwic know ony te orm o te prtyStte Ploopiclly moreover ti erc for new ure of mitntim wtout prty preciely wt will brin diou bck to n od cquntnce in Saint Pau

tou lmot tirty yer d to p before e could nlly come toterm wt i peronl rod to Dmcu tt w My 68 or rter itMoit ftermt or me Pu l poettinker o te event well one wo prcte nd tte t e nvrint trt of wt c n be ced temilitnt ure Even te elfcrticm impied n t move from prtypolitic to orm of miltntim wtout prty owever ould not let foret tt noter crucil point tt remined intct i te ide t tny emncptory politc mut tke n ornized orm Mut we ruett ornztion lone cn mke n event nto n orin? Ye nofr poltcl ubject require te itoric underpnnin of n pprtu ndinor tere i no orin except or determinte politic Eventulyti empi on te need for ny trut weter politic or oterwe toecome incorported n ome ornized orm or pprtu will led to ew teory o te body new pyic to buttre te metpyic o f teubectin Logic of Word.

Anoter pont o efcritcm nlly concern te voent nueof detructon wit wic diou in Theo ofthe Subject eek to counterwt e cll te tructur dilectic of lck n Mllrm or Lcn owrdte end o Being and Event te utor dmt I went bit try muty n Theo of the Subject concernin te teme of detruction I tllmintined bck ten te ide of n eent il nk between detruction

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TRANSATOR'S INTRODCTION

ad ovelty he idea was that every ew rh wold ecessariyivolve a destrcio of the old order. From a strict otoogical viewhowever he par of loss i ovelty mst be rephrased i erms o ofdestrcio bt of sbtracio ad disqaicatio. A ew rth caotsppress ay existece bt by extedig a give sitatio from the poitof its spplemeaio that is a evet a egaged eqiry ito thetrthfless or veridicality of his evet ca disqalify or sbtrac cerai

terms or miplesamely those iegaliaria oes ha are icompatible with he geeric ad iversal atre of a rth. Desrctio hewod be oly a reactive ame for the fate of that part of kowledgethat o loger wil have qaied as trhf or veridical i the exededsitatio i which a evet has take pace

However this last sefcriicism oo may have to be tempered i theexte hat the distictio betwee the two pahs of destrcio ad sbtractio remais a key opic of the athors ogoig eqiries Mch ofBadios Ethic for istace deas with he specic resrais hat msapply o ay trh procedre i order o avoid the 'disaster of forcig aetire sitaio i the ame of rth to the poi of competely desroy

ig he od order of higs while the opposite operatio of sbractiowhich proceeds by way of a pricipe of 'miimal differece is he topicof severa of Badios lectres i The Centu. Wha is more whereasBeing and Event seems to poi to he otio of destrcio as the pricipal misgivig i Badios ow earier thoght which is sil very mchsred oto politics der he ilece of Maoism i Logic of World aew baace is srck bewee desrctio ad sbracio A trh theivolves both a disqaicatio or sbtractio (of beig) and a destrctioor loss (of appearig) 'he opeig of a space of creatio reqires destrctio. 4 fac his is s oe of may regards i which he se cod volme

ofBeing an d Event

is oce more closer toTheo of the Subject.

he poit isceraily o o move i a sefrigheos ad liear fashio from the ravagig blidess of destrcio associaed wih the diaectica work o hecoo isighs of sbractio afforded by the tr to mahemaics

deed hogh this remais somewhat of a boe of cotetio amogcritics ad commetators Badios sbseqe traectory sggess thahere are ceraily as may itrigig ies of cotiity ad resrrectio bewee the earlier ad he later wriigs as there have bee poisof acte selfcriticism ad discotiity. his becomes owhere moreevide ha i the reface o Logic of World where Badio glady adoptshe ame 'materialis diaectic o describe his lifelog edeavor i sharp

TRANSATOR'S INTRODCTION

cotrast o Being and Event where he orthodox tradiio of 'diaecticamateriaism as metioed above is cosidered beyod salvage as thestibor aemp o reder homologos he dialecic of are ad thaof spirit Afer eary wo decades of expressy aidialecical fervorariclary i texs sch as Metapolitic ad The Centu Badios work irecet years hs seems if ot exacy to have come fll circle he aeas to be spiraig back o some of is origia premises sice aready

oe of his eariest phiosophica exs a review of Ahssers caoicaFor Marx ad eading Capital received he programmaic tile 'he (Re)commeceme of Dialecica Maeriaism B the o provide Marxismwih a materialist ad dialectical phiosophy compaibe wih its stricypolitica deiio is precisely he ambitios overa programme behidTheo of the Subject a programme which Badio ow argesagaistte caoica teachigs of Althsser ad wih the expected help ofacacaot be accomplished witho he very cocept of he sbjecat materialism previosy had the prpose of debkig as sheerdeaist hmbg

3

Lei oce famosly described Marxs teachig as 'the legitimate sccessor to he best tha hmaity prodced i the ieteeth cery asepreseed by Germa philosophy Eglis h politica ecoomy ad Frechocialism a similar vei we cold sm p the three sorces or'compoet pars of Theo of the Subject by sayig tha Badios eachig i this work draws is sregth from a iqe articlatio of Frechpoery ad psychoaaysis (Mallarm ad aca) Germa philosophy

(Hegel ad o a lesser degree Hderli) ad Greek tragedy (Aeschylsad Sophocles). f the limae goal of his riagatio is a redeitioof Marxism dersood as a periodized mode of doig poiics rather thaas a established body of docries to be saved from crisis ad kept preagaist al odds t he we shold add tha t the medim of this operaioorhe geeral ideoogica atmosphere i which it is able to redraw the lies ofdemarcaio betwee dialectical materiaism ad rivallig philosophiesis a origia ivestigatio ito the coemporary roe of Maoism webeyod is specic sie i Chia hat which we ame 'Maoism is less aal res ha a ask a hisorica gidelie. I is a qesio of thikgad practisig posteiism.

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I at O Badiou st of all ds th Hglia dialctic i tmsof a logic of scissio istad of th typical txtbook otios of aliatiogatio th gatio of gatio ad so o o b mo pcis h distiguishs two matrcs of th dialctic i Hgl a idalist o ddby th xtalizatio ad tu to slf ad a poply matialist oi which y tm is split without uity ith at th oigi o i thd. Badiou xamis this distictio i a makabl adig of Hgls

Siene of Logi spcially thos pats o dtmiatio ad limit which asis oft th cas with aly momts i Hgls pstatio a ot ytcotamiatd by th idalist pssus of th Absolut Badious liaco Hgls Logi moo poids a fshig ad muchdd cotast to th hay iluc of th Phenomenoogy of Spirit i th taditioof Fch Hgliaism fom Alxad Koj to Gogs Bataill asidfom obiously uig cout to th gal atiHgliaism of thAlthussia school. A bold adig of Chistiaity i light of this dialctic of scissio futhmo allows Badiou ot oly to cicumscib thtwi 'hsis o 'diaios of lftwig Gosticism (fo which if wmay simplify matts of docti to a xtm Chis t is puly dii oiit) ad 'ightwig Aiaism (fo which Chist is puly huma oit) but also to spcify th poit wh Hgls dialctic mais aftall idalist i tms of th histoical piodizatio that it allows o athdisallows isofa as it mos i cicls ad ultimatly lads back to thsplit tm that was always alady pst fom th oigi ( God as Fath/So o iity/itud). 'Hg o this poit must b diidd oc agaiso as to bak out of th 'cicl of ccls of th Absolut Badiou cocluds 'o b bif w will oppos (matialist) periodization to (idalist)iruari8 h adig of Hgl thus lays th goudwok fo a thoyof what w might call 'histoicity without Histoy which thoughout

th maid of th book will cotiu to ifom th piodizatio ofMaxism.at wo aft a discussio of acit atomism as a limitd o faild

attmpt by way of pu chac o th ciam to ijct som masu ofdialcticity ito th stak cotadictio of oid ad atoms offs Badiouslogst ad mos t dtaild gagmt with th witigs of Mallam cosidd to b o of th two gat mod Fch dialcticias togthwith Laca ik th atomism of Dmocis o uctius Mallamsdialctic is upackd ito a limitd umb of fomal opatios thto b xact aishig aulmt ad foclosu Of ths opatiosth fcacy of a aishig caus is without a doubt th most impotat

TRANSLATOR'S INTROUCTION

isofa as it also implis a uspok citiqu of th whol Althussiacocpt of stuctual causality that is of a caus that aishs ito thtotality of its ffcts. Badiou highlights th xtaodiay pow of thiscocpt whil at th sam tim alig its wakss amly th placwh th otio of a causality f lack o spcially wh it is aisdto th ll of a fomal cocpt thaks to th axityiducig opatioof aulmt whby lack itslf coms to lack tus ito a fobiddig

obstacl o stoppig poit pohibitig th actual tasfomatio of thtotality put i plac by th ffcts of th aishig caus itslf. Mallamswitig though mitly dialctical i this ss would mai idalistpstig what Badiou calls a stuctualthough ot stuctualistdialctic 'All this foms a pcious lgacy Badiou cocluds thoughth is a d to dialcticiz th stuctual dialctic byod itslf: 'NoI d o fault with all this xcpt that I am ot swayd by a od ofthigs i which all though t is dotd to th ispctio of that which subodiats it to th pl acmt of a absc a d which bigs salatio foth subct oly i th aladythss of a sta

I at h th xploatio of th pomiss ad dadlocks of thisstuctual dialctic is xtdd ad tak ito th ld of acaia psychoaalysis. Of all Badious woks i fact Theo of the Subjet cotaishis most thooughgoig discussio of acas rits ad th fw smiaspublishd at th tim spcialy Smia XI The Four Fundamenta Coneptsof Psyhoanaysis ad Smia XX Enore togth with scattd txtspublishd i th Lacaia ouals Orniar? ad Siiet og bfo Saojik would populaiz such adigs i a similaly political ky Badi outhus distiguishs btw th ali aca fo whom th domiattm is th symbolic that dissols th imagiay ad th lat acawhos mathmatical obsssios ol aoud th al that absolutly

sists symbolizatio. O ath th would b two difft cocptiosof th al itslf: th st which Badiou calls 'algbaic follows closly iMallams footstps by dig th al as a aishig caus whasth oth calld 'topological lis o otios such as th Boomakot i od to gi th al a miimum of cosistcy. 'h aboadly spakig two succssi Lacas th o of th lack of big adth o of th otology of th hol of th odal topos ad cosqutlyof th big of lack Badiou wits: 'Bgiig i th stis whicho ca mak by th pimacy of th k ot o th chai o of cosistcyo causality it is th histoical aspct that gais th upp had o thstuctual o Ultimatly th goal of this dlimitatio of th stuctual

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materialism reection is the metaphor of the thesis of identity Badioconcdes: he second metaphor mathematizes the th esis of primacy intoan asymptote. Both of these theses mst be maintained at the sametime, es t the dialecticity of the diaectic that traverses materialism throghand throgh is aowed to apse back into a rightist or 'leftist exaggera-tion which wold redce knowledge respectivey, to being a simple mirroring redplication of the existing strctre of things or to following an

inni te line of light cased by some indivisible leftover. Given the crrenttheoretical panorama, which bathes in the obscre light projected bynotions sch as difference the remainder or the asymptotic approach ofthe real in the night of nonknowledge, there is ths something refreshingly conterintitive in this retrn to materialism in the bright mirror ofreection theory.

Parts Five and Six, naly, move the argment with increasing speedand concision in the direction of an overview of the entire theory of thesbject in order to elcidate a possible ethics of Marxism. his is accom-pished by mapping ot the for fndamenta concepts, on one hand, intotwo analytica temporalities respectivey of sbjectivization (based on

the hasty time of interrption itself split into anxiety and corage) andof the sbjective process (based on the drabe time of recomposition,itself in trn split into the sperego and jstice) and on the other, intotwo synthetic modes or trajectories one which Badio dbs the mode (from anxiety to the sperego) and the other the mode a (from corageto jstice). he theory of the sbject ths becomes a complex topological space or network ordered arond the for basic concepts and theirarticlations. In fact, in addition to the vertical and horizonta pairings,there are also diagona correations that mark the trajectories of ideology in the theory of the sbject that is, the great imaginary fnctions of

dogmatism (along the coragesperego axis) and scepticism (aong thejsticeanxiety axis) Badio frthermore incldes a brief phenomeno-logical accont of the different gres and trajectories in this overview, inwhich he once again retrns to Hege and Hlderlin.

thics comes into the pictre in this context as the name for differentsbjective formations that constitte socalled discorses, rather thaneither concepts or trajectories Badio distingishes two extreme cases:the discorse of praise based on belief in an essential wisdom of theworld and the openly Promethean discorse of rebellios condenceBetween these two extremes of belief and condence there ie the discorses of what Badio cals the ethics of the impasse, whether nihilist or

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RANSLAORS INROION

dissident, insofar as they reject al linkages between the spposed wisdomof the existing world and the sbjects evalation of what is to be donehe books na propositions, which arge in favor of an ethics thatwold refse to give p on the sbjects condence, in this sense can beconsidered an early anticipation of Badios thics as we as a welcomeconterpart to the latter all too polemical overtones

4

Implicit in the notion of an ethics ofMarxism, as opposed to a Marxistethics is a strictly poitical nderstanding of Marxism. his matterof principle gides the seection of texts from the tradition: We cannever repeat enogh that the texts of Marxism are rst and foremostthose of militant poitics he reader ths will search in vain forBadios personal interpretation of Marxs Capital (the eephant Capital,Badio says) or even of the Grundrisse (which pay sch a central roearond the same time in the late 90s in Antonio Negris recasting

of Marxism). Instead, it is with reference to interventionist texts schas The Communist Manifesto or enins he Crisis Has Matred that thepresent work caims to be standing in he lineage of poitical Marxismikewise Badio repeatedy rejects any notion of a science of histoythat wold be embodied in Marxs own stdy and critiqe of the politica economy of advanced capitaism in favor of a miitant denitionof the reference to texts by Marx enin, and Mao in concrete poiticalexperiments: Science of history? Marxism is the disourse with which theproletariat sustains itself as subject We mst never let go of this idea fethics has any role a t all to pay in th is context, it is only in orde r to serve

as a practica principle, or maxim, for sstaining the rationa and partisancalcations of politicsScattered throghot Theo of the Subjet the reader wil ths be abe

to nd Badios relections on the role of masses, classes, and the Stateon the party of a new type as the body of politics and on commnism,revoltion and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Anyone interested inprobing the exact natre of Badios Marxism in this sense, shold payclose attention to the present book. erhaps above all the reader willcome to appreciate a side of Badios work that sally is not as visible a sit is in Theo of the Subjector, once again in Logics of Worlds that is his lairfor historica periodization. Not ony does he pre sent what I earlier called a

xix


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RANSAOR'S INTROUCION

materiaist heory of historiciy withot History b he aso seps ito thereches i order to iervee i the acta historicizatio o Marxism, ashe discorse of reerece i a least hree crcial seqeces o eves: thepoplar riots rom he ime of he Communit Manifto a the way to theexperime o the aris Comme the victory o the October Revoioad the cosittio of socialis States throghot he Soviet boc adthe Clral Revotio i Maoist Chia. he reasos for this oherwise

fairly orthodox efort at periodizatio are cosiste wih the priciple oa miitatas opposed to a scieic, o o metio prely academicderstadig o the discorse foded by Marx: 'For Marxism, seizedfrom ay poit that is ot its efective operatio which is eirely of theorder of poiics withi he masses, does o deserve oe hor of ortrobles

his does ot mea eglectig the crisis of Marxism 'Ye s, e s admitit withot detors: Marxism is i crisis Marxism is aomized However,ike what happes i the atiMarxis war machie of he discorseagaist otaliariaism, this crisis mst be dersood immaetly, fromwithi he weakess or he exhastio o the reeretial vale o the

Marxist discorse i acal poliical ad miita processes: 'ast theimplse ad creative scissio of the 90s, a fter he aioa liberatiosrggles ad the cltra revotio, wha we iherit i imes of crisisad he immiet threa of war is a arrow ad fragmetary assemblageof thoght ad actio, cagh i a abyrith o ris ad srvvals Marxism, i additio o is deiabe historica crisis, mst also dergoa active coceptal destrctio, the i is aways with a eye o is possible recomposiio as a politica discorse. his is why, several years afterTho of th Subjct, it ca come to fcio as oe o the two fdametal'ierveig doctries o the sbect, the oher oe beig psychoaalysis,

tha from he otside coditio the philosophy o he evet, as Badiowill sate explicily i the reface to Bing and Evnt: 'A postCaresiadoctrie of he sect is foldig: is origi ca be traced o ophilosophical pracices (wheher those practices be political or reatig to'metal iess ad is regime o iterpretatio, marked by the ames oMarx ad ei, Fred ad aca, is itricaey liked o ciical or militat operaios which go beyod rasmissible discorse Besides, thedoble historica stampig of these docries o the sbject, with Marx/eiaside rom recalig ess/a a t the origi of Christiaitybeigsricty homologos o Fred/aca, eads Badio i Tho of th Subjctto raise a irigig qestio 'Where s, yet o come ad makig hree,

TRANSAOR'S INTROCTION

he Mao of psychoaaysis? his qestio is ot rhetorica ad to alarge exe remais ope to his daywith aca himsel still havigimporat essos to each, as Badio shows, regardig a theory o hesbjec hat wold be compatibe wih the desrctio ad recompositioo Marxism

oher words, whie it is certaiy tre hat i Tho of th SubjctBadio ackowledges o be speakig from defeat, as whe he says: 'o

defed Marxism today meas o defed a weakess, we shod oteglect he fact tha this ackowledgemet is immediatey folowed by astatemet i which he weakess o he ideesible at oce prescribes thetask o a ew dy: 'We ms practi Marxism

At leas wo major interrogations admiedly sill remain open wihregard to the Marxist iscripioof Theoryofthe Subject Thers cocersthe pace o ( the criique o) poliical economy AsZiek requently insists,his dimension appears o be compleey absen rom Badious work aerBeing andEvent. hrogh he cocept o the abset case itse, hogh,there is certaily a good case to be made for he argmet hat Theoryof the Subject both includes and problemaizes he role of he economy

in a strictly poitica undersanding of Marxism. Between Althusser andBadiou, in fact, we migh say tha a decisive reversa o perspective takesplace wherebythe absencause, insead o providing us with the master

key tounlock hestructural causaityof overdetermination, becomes syn-onymous wih the ransormative poentia of aneven The economicainstance, which or Ahusser serves as theprincipal exampeof a causehat vanishes into he toaity ofis efects,hus coninues o be presenasi were virtualy in Badious doctrine of he event, except thathe emphasis nowshis away from the structura dimension towards he rarity of a

subjective inervenionhere canbe no doubt, however thatmuch moreworkneeds to be done in order to follow thedesiny of this concept of he

economy qua absen cause inthe wakeo Althusserian Marxism. Jacques-Aain Milers eary wriings fromhe imeof his particpation in Cahierspour I'analyse, especiay 'Marix and 'Action othe Sructure evenmore

so thanhis widelyknown'Suure (Elements oftheLogic o the Signier )"should proveparticuarly reevaninthis conex, and they aready receive

mch atetio i Badios Tho of th Subjct9 the ed, thogh, eve a retr to he cocept of the abset case alog

the path that leads rom strctral to poststrctral forms o thoght islikely to covice he diehard Marxist who is i search o a accoto poiical ecoomy i this thikers work For i the eyes of Badio, the


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xxii

TRANSLATOR'S INRODUCTON

act o the matter remains that Marxs Capital, while essentially true in its

diagnostic, and perhaps even truer today than a century and a hal ago,

nonetheless puts us on the wrong track i our aim is to dene a political

rather than an analytical Marxism. This is because the critique o political

economy has been unabl e to perorm its own critique, as Badiou will write

in Can Politics Be Thought? In this sense, the economical instance marks the

xation, or the becomingction, o Marxism:

What was supposed to be a strategy o the event, a hypothesis regard

ing the hysterias o the socia an organ o interpretationinterruption, a

courage o ortune, has nally been presented, by way o the economy,

as giving a convenient measure to social relations hus, Marxism has

been destroyed by its own history, which is that o the xion, with an x,

the history o its xation by the philosopheme o the political0

Marxism can be reed rom this xation only i the crises and hysterias,

to which the critique o political economy was supposed to provide access,

are seen neither as social acts nor as empirical illustrations o antagonism

as the metaphysical essence o 'the political, le politique, but as the retroac-

tive outcome o politics, la politique or rather, o une politique that is, oa (specic mode o doing) politics. Theo of the Subject aims to come to

grips precisely with the logic o such retroactive interventions, as described

almost on the spot in the everishly militant writings o Marx, Lenin, and

Mao

A second interrogation concerns the historical nature o the theory

o the subject as such For Badiou, this question never even poses itsel

insoar as his theory is purely ormal or axiomatic What is more, as he

recently reiterates, over time not much has changed at all either in the

conguration o being, truth, and subject which constitutes the matrix

or philosophy, or in the types and gures o truth to which a subject

can be aithul 'he act is that todayand in this regard things havent

budged much since Platowe know only our types o truth science

(mathematics and physics), love, politics, and the arts41 From a Marxist

perspective, though, we might want to ask whether there are not also

important historical breaks that need to be taken into account within

the ormal conditions o existence that are constitutive o such processes

o subjectivization, particularly in politicS Does not capitalism introduce

a major cut into these processes? Or does the ormal apparatus remain

undamentally unchanged, even i any given truth procedure, like any

political intervention, must appear in a specic historical world?

TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

Clearly, Badious insistence on the eterna transhistorica or

transtemporal nature o all truths is meant in the rst place to avoid

he relativistic consequences o a thoroughly historicized account o the

subject. This is precisely the gist o his outspoken attack in Logics of Worlds

against the historicism that he associates with socalled 'democratic mate-

rialism, as opposed to the 'materialist dialectic he real issue, however,

concerns the compatibility, or not, between a ormal and a historical

theory o the subject. n Marxist terms, this would bring us back to theamiliar stumbling block o dening the relations between dialectical

materialism and historical materialism Along these lines, aside rom a

return to Etienne Balibars discussion o periodization and other basic

concepts o historical materialism in his contribution to Reading Capital

uture investigations based on a thorough grasp o Theo of the Subject

might want to revisit not only the role o capitalism but also, in a pos-

sible dialogue with Michel Foucaults contemporary work in The Histo

of Sexuali or in his seminar on The Hermeneutics of the Subject, the role o

religion and psychoanalysis in the changing aces o ancient, medieva

and modern subjectivity.2

5

At this point, we might actually turn around our initial question and

ask whether, even rom such a cursory overview o Theo of the Subject

as the one have just outlined, Badious other major books, Being and

Event and Logi of Worlds, do not also appear in a dierent and perhaps

even critical light In any case, while do not wish to suggest something

that Badiou jokingly has come to attribute to my reading o Theo of the

Subject namely, that ater this book it all goes steeply downhill, with only

a brie flaring up o hope with ogics of Worlds, we are ar removed rom

the common prejudice according to which the work o philosophers, in an

ongoing series o selcriticisms and emendations, is supposed to ollow a

steady path o linear progression.

he very relation between Being and Event and Logics of Worlds (subtitled

Being and Event 2), to begin with, can best be unerstood in terms o the

articulation o algebra and topology. But then it soon appears that this

comparison with one o the pivotal conceptual divisions rom Theo of the

Subject at once implies an anticipatory critique o the work to come From

within the strictly metaontological parameters proper to Being and Event,

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TRANSLATOR'S INTRODCTION

dd h ca oy mg as a ashg cau s whos bgls dsaag Now fom h od wok w kow ha such aalgbac wo fo whch h sa l fau of h a faufobdd axomac s hoywoud b s slffaly o sslfblogg mus b sulmd wh a 'oologca oaowhch o h bass of cagoy hoy o h hoy of topoi sgash ms of s cosqucs ad h cosscy of s mlca

sucu as has h squ o Bing and vnt. hs ssw mgh coclud a asu ad of Tho of th Subjct could hadcd a og m ago ha Bing and vnt was o ma osddggg h hackyd objcos agas Badou as a dogmas f oa dowgh mysc of h ucual ul s xso ha wouldak almos wy yas o com o fuo Logics of Words

Tho of th Subjct o oy ods us wh a ky o udsad hdacc bw Bing and vnt ad Logics of Wordsscally f bydacc a dc lag fom Hg w a o udsad h daha h ssc of all dffc ls h hd m ha maks h gabw h wo ohs. Bu h al book also s caabl of o

g ou adg of ach of h a wo olums ak o s ow.As I suggsd abo hs cosus o of Badous majo us as ahlosoh ga\ amly hs caacy o daw u a shar cuof h saks od h mos bug omcs of ou m so as ocofo h ad wh h oblgao of a dcso faou of o l of hough o h oh Wha ds o b addd h s ha hs caacyfo gg hough a dcs oao obously ca b xdd oclud Badous ow wok as w.

xxv

hus wh ad lgh of Tho of th Subjct, h ojc of Bing andvnt o log aas o fall so asly h as of a gd udalccalo adalcca dualsm No dos h aa oly as a ucua sac of slfbogg wholy dlkd o cu off fom h xsg suao Isad o ah addo h mhass also falls o hfac ha h s aways a for a scc suao by u ofh al s ha ol y a coc aalyss of h coc suao caccumscb. Fuhmo ah ha a las o h basof bg/ kowdg/uh ad so o commoy assocad whBadous hough wha a caful udsadg of Tho of th Subjctbgs ou Bing and vnt s o oly h x o whch ach foudgcoc s ally sl ( oh wods h ba saag wo ms ofa bay mus b asosd oo ach m so ha bg sf s s o

TRANSLATORS INTRODCTION

coss ad coss bg coss bg o sao adsao h o sf ad s s h subjc o h moaddua ad h mmoal aca of a uh ocss ad so o) bualso h o of a whol ss of mday o calad cocs adoaos (such as h coc of h al s whch symomacallylks h o a g suao ad fo whch sgcaly o mahmacal fomula s aalabl sc wh hs coc w h alm of

hck hsocal aayss o h oao of focg whch a backwadoso maks a uh oa so as o oduc w foms of kowdgwh h suao of dau) Fally hough h x o lasmdao of Bing and vnt s ld hoy of h Subc hs wso acually aas o b ah odmsoa comaso oh a book of h sam l h ss ha h subjc s ddxcusly ms of dy o o o h . lk wha haswh h daccal rlay amog h fou fudamal cocs ofaxy couag usc ad h sugo h hus sms o b lo o sac fo al s wh h subjc as such hs oo wll bcocd h s 'book' of Logics of Words, ld Fomal hoy of h

Subjc (Mahyscs). ha alady od ou som of h oh ocs such as h ol of

dsuco by mas of whch Badou hs c book sms o bhakg back o Tho of th Subjct Bu h a may mo os ofcuc. Fo sac coay o h aow do o f h subcha w d Bing and vnt ms of dly o h ack hofLogics of Words oc aga os u a comlx subjc sac sucudaoud wo oh gus h ac o (whch ds ha ay acually has ak lac) ad h obscu o (whch fuh obfuscash y d fo a o ha a al sofa as h would xs a'full body h gus of a ac ao o God). Wha s mo h bookxcly sums h fomalzao of h sa c of subjcy by ug o wha a ow calld h fou affcs of axy couag juscad o ou affcs ga h cooao of a huma amal oh subc ocss of a uh Badou ws al h whl ssg oh qual moac of all fou hy a o b hachcally odd.Wa ca ha as much alu as ac goao as much as suggloc as much as glss. Fally g hs fo may hasuxcd of couy bw Tho of th Subjct ad Logicsof Words, ally should o com as a sus aymo ha Badoualso us o som of hs old faous fo fcs: Hg mo

xxv

'


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xxv

TRANSLATOR'S INTROCTION

spcicaly his Siene of Logi ths appars oc agai as a ky itrloctori Logis of Words, ad th book ops ad closs with xampls drawfrom th history of Maosm

All ths obviosy is ot to say that thr ar o ptrs or discotitis i Bados work. say so morovr wod b hghly paradoxcalgiv th ctrality for this work of th catgory of th vt as a radical ctor brak albt a immat o Ev sch discotitis thogh mst

b placd agast th backdrop of a la rgr articlato whos complx addivdd atr ca b graspd with spca carity from th vatag poitof Bados rst ad most xprimtal attmpt at formlatig a matrial-ist dialctc i Theo of the Subjet From this poit of vw ot oly Beingand Event bt Logi of Words too appars to b travrsd by a divdd or-tato comparabl to th split btw th algbra of a va shig casad th topology of a wly cosistt world O o had that whch th w book is calld a 'st whch is ot to b cofsd wth th oldroto of a 'vtal sit is markd prcisly by th pctality of whatdisappars o soor tha it appars as if a lightig lash O th othrhad howvr thr is a trth of this disapparig oly thaks to th

aboratio of a sris of cosqcs that s a w mod or rgim ofapparg 'lfblogig als itsf as soo a s it is forcd as soo as ithapps A st is a vaishig trm t appars oly ordr to disapparh problm s to rgistr ts cosqcs apparig. Both of thsaspcts th sit as vashig trm ad th rgm of its cosqcsca b sparatd oly at th v of cocptal xposito whras iactal fact o caot xist withot th othr Badio highlights thisdilmma for stac hs priodizatio of th aris Comm a talkrworkd ad cldd Logis of Words 'For what cots is ot oy thxcptoal itsty of its srgig pth fact that w ar daig witha volt ad crativ pisod i th ralm of apparigbt what thispsrg dspit its vaishig sts ot i ts drato trms of gloriosad crtai cosqcs. o gor o of ths aspcts to th dtr-mt of th othr wl ad to a radically diffrt imag of th philosophyof th vt ithr as a absolt bt mpty dscotiity or as a lastgbt prdctab cotity. As Badio sists ovr ad ovr aga i Theoof the Subjet howvr th whol trick cosists i combig ths twoortatios i a op dd diactic of bgiigs ad rbgigs Ifact a sbjct is prcisly sch a articlatio as s cormd i Logis ofWords: 'A sbjct s a sqc vovig cotiits and dscotitisopigs and poits h ad icarats itsf as sbjct.

TRANSLATOR'S NTROCTION

tylistcally Theo ofthe Subjet adopts th format of a smar isprd byacas xampl B ados dlity to ths modl is actally qt xtsivragig from th s of idiosycratic wordplay sytactic ambgitsfy asids ad bold provocatos of th adc al th way to thdispositio of th writt txt with mbrd sctios ad a ist of sb

titls at th start of ach chaptr as i acqsAai Milrs ditio ofLacas orgal smiarsI fact th styl of Bados thr 'major books cold ot b mor df

frt hs whil th dic ad ds qaity of Theo ofthe Subjet coldb attrbtd to a almost complt idffrc to a actal radrshpth smarformat othss allows Bado to rly o a gros 'wthat is try coctiv ad ackowldgs th partcipato of hs adic thrfor frqty rdr th Frch nous as 'w stad of sig itmrly as a polit form of th as is cstomary Eglish trasatiosBsids Theo of the Subjet st shows codc th possibilty ofspakig i th am of 'w Marxsts whras this collctv 'w is

prcisly part of th traditio that colapss togthr with ovitstylCommsm ad th Brli Wal 'Commism amd th ffctivhistory of w ow dad 'hr s o logr a w thr hast bfor a log tm Being and Event o th othr had is wrtt with aalmost classca or som wold say oclassc imprsoaity whos calmsrity dos ot xcd a momtal ambto. Logis of Words alyis writt from a sfcodt positio of itratioa fam wth a' who dos ot hsitat to rfr to 'Badio i th thrd prso sid bysd with lato ad Kat Each of ths thr works frthrmor adoptsa iq gric format folowig thr diffrt modls th historyof phosophy Theo of the Subjet is a Lacaiaispird smiar Beingnd Eent s mad p of 3 Cartsa or postCartsia mditatios adLogi of Words adopts a strctr vagly rmiisct of pozas Ethisordrd ito sv 'books icldg svral 'scholia ad a list of 'propositios at th d

Asid from crta tchical trms whch I w list ad xpla i thxt sco two stylistc idiosycrasis dsrv a brf commt hr asthy aso cssary rqir a dcsio o th part of th trasator hirst cocrs Badios rlac o th lcy ad ambigity of crtaicostrctios i Frch which whil by o mas bg obscr or otof th ordary rsist asy trasato ito Egs h. hs ar istacs of

xxv

TR S TOR'S TRO UCTIO TRANSLATOR'S INTROUCTION


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TRANSATOR'S NTROUCTION

almost coloqua speech that trasatio may tu out to be awkwado simpy uidiomatic Some of these staces, especially those borowedfrom aca, receive a extesve commetary fom Badiou himself Forothers, I have tried to give a literal traslato, a the while explaig theambguity the traslators otes icuded at the ed of this voume

he secod idosycrasy which Badiou aso seems to have adoptedfrom aca eve though a similar tred is typica of a cetai Frech

style of wrtg i geeal cossts usg sglesetece paragraphswhose bod ad compact sytax gives them the feel of gomc or oracu-la statemets While Egsh t would have made sese to poduce asmoothe rhythm by icopoatig such seteces ito the flow of logeparagraphs, I have opted istead for a fathful redeig, respectful of thegraphic effect with which these oeliers puctuate a wellgh cli-ca sese the gadua process of aayss udertake by Badiou i Theoofthe Subject

* *

woud ike to thak all the fieds whose hep ad support alowedme to see this proect through to the ed. May moe could be amedbut wat to sigle out ete Haward Adia ohsto Abetooscao, ad Slavo iek. heir advice durig the al stages i pa-ticular tured out to be ivaluabe I aso beeted from beg able tocosut tasatios of shorter portios of this book by Ed uth Albertooscao ad Maia de Careri. Audey Wasser ad Ricado Arbasheped me with bibiogaphcal refereces whe was far away fom thebrares of Coel ad o sabbatical i Mexco. Aessadro Russo adFabo azas expertise about the Cutural Revolutio was idispesablefo locatig obscue quotatios fom Mao. Simoe et, as always, was

my compass without her presece i my life oe of ths would havebee possble

A sepaate word of thaks ad appreciato goes out to Aai Badouhmself who ever stopped listeig to my queres ever sice our fied-shp bega, precisely i respose to that rst readig of Theo of the Subjectthat blew me away ow more tha a decade ago. At Cotiuum ally wat to thak om Crick fo his patece ad hs cotiued beef thatoe day he would actually eceve a complete mauscipt wth diagramsad all icluded ad Adew Mikolaski ad racey Smth for ther hardwok with the editig.

xx

TRANSLATOR'S INTROUCTION

Notes o the trasatio

A umber of ecurret techical terms used i Theo of the Subjet merita bref explaatio Especiay whe combied with the authos owhematic Repertore icuded at the ed of this volume ths st maysmultaeously seve as a basic gossary. he four fudametal coceptsof the theory of the subectcourage, axiety, ustce, ad the superego

do ot receve a separate etry i ths glossary sce Badiou himsef the couse of the book amply dees them Cetai grammatcal ambi-guities ad occasioa techicalities o the other had, wi be aotatedtogether with additioal bbliographca refereces i the al secto of'raslators Edotes a d Refeeces.

Annulation ('annulment or annulation): his is n f th thr basic pratins assciatd with Maarms ptry in trms f th structura diactictthr with th chain ffct causd by a vanishin trm and th nu fct ffrcsur By annuin a vanishin trm this pratin s t spak carrisut a ack f ack which raiss ack t th v f a cncpt a th whi pr

ducin anxiy Atrnativ transatins wud b 'rscissin nuicatincancatin r rvcatin

Basculement ('tippng over or 'toppling, occasionally 'changeover or'turnabout) A trm usd in th prsnt cntt t rfr t th suddn transfrmatin whrby a structura abraic rintatin tips vr and pnsut nt a histrica r vnta rintatin rm th vry binnin f heoof the Subjet thr ar car hints th HianMarxian diactic as inth passinvr r bergehen f quantity int quaity spciay whn thwh prcss cntradictry transrmatin taks n a mr abrupt apik aspct f a suddn vrthrw r invrsin as in th Grman Umshlagasn Barkr in th Enish transatin f Badius Metapolitis, rndrs thistrm as 'vrbaancin fr xamp f what xists int wha an st r

frm th knwn twards th unknwn as h rsut f a pitica intrvntin

Battement ('oscillation or 'vacillation occasionally 'batting): A trm usdt dscrib th mvmnt arund an mpty pac as part f what Badiudns as th sructura diactic Aan Shridan in his transatin f Lacansminar XI. he Four Fundamental Conepts of Psyhoanalysis pts fr 'pusain which s prhaps at physica fr th pury structura functin thatBadiu has in mind vn thuh acans wn panatin is why t thpint fr th trms us in heo ofthe Subjet I hav cnstanty strssd inmy prcdin statmnts Lacan says 'th pulsative functin as it wr f thuncnscius h nd t disappar that sms t b in sm sns inhrnt

xxx

TRANSATOR'S INTRODUCTION TRANSATORS INTRODUCTION


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xxx

TRANSATOR'S INTRODUCTION

in itvrythin that fr a nt appar in it lit t b dtindby a rt f prptin t cl up aain upn itlf a rud hilf udth taphr t vanih t diappar S I 43 Still in th a narLacan al u th tr t rfr t th luttrin win f Chuan Tzu whnh iain h i a buttrfly whil Badiu in The f he Sube rfr ta 'battn f ylah t na th apparindiapparin f Mallarvanihin cau Th tr al vk th rl f th inifyin battry labaee sgnane in Lacanian pychanalyi and infar a Badiu k t

bynd th idali f thi tructural dl thr i nthn wrn withharin ch f 'batin in baemen includin in th prativ n f'batin arund th buh

Brin ('strand) hi tr rfr t th ctin trand r bt that ar knttdr braidd tthr in a ubjct pcially th trand cbinin curaand utic) and th trand cbnin anty and th upr) Badiuthu rli n th cncptia f a crd r a pic f ttil wavintthr ultipl trand r lant.

Coupure ('cut occasionally 'break or 'rupture) n The fhe Sube thitr t ftn rtain th anin f 'cut that Lacan invk fr aplin hi tplical dcuin rardin th tyin untyin and cuttin f aknt h thr cnntatin which via Althur wuld rfr u back t thcncpt f an pitlical 'brak r 'ruptur upue psmlgque inth wrk f Gatn Bachlard Gr Canuilh and Michl ucault l aninful n th cntt f The f he Sube

Dvian and dviation ('deviation): A tr ud in The f he Sube ttranlat namen i th liht 'dviatin 'wrv r 'inclinatin f atfallin in th vid whrby a wrld i frd accrdin t th ancnt atif Lucrtiu Whil dvane ha th a ual and/r criinal cnntatinin Frnch a 'dvianc r 'dviancy in Enlh hav ptd fr th rnutral 'dviatin intad Th tr thn pnly bin t rnat with thrliiu and plitical dbat rardin dvans r 'dviatin fr rthdy r fr th crrct lin dbat that Badiu cntantly ha n ind

thruhut The fhe Sube Anthr pibl tranlatin fr namen udn crtain Enlih vrin f Mar dctral dirtatin n D critan andEpicuran ati i 'dcinatin

Epuration ('purication sometimes 'purging) A tr ud t dcribth prc by which frcand th ubjct r nrallywrk backupn th yt f plac that thrwi dtrin it dntty a thi r thatfrc thi r that ubjct Th tr culd bvuly b tranatd a 'purr 'purin but th Stalinit vrtn f thi prin whil nvr whllyabnt huld nt b allwd t dinat th tr ntrprtatin in Thef he Sube. n The Cenu Badiu wll dicu th path f dtructin andpuricatn incudn in it Staint c in ppitin t th path f

TRANSATORS INTRODUCTION

ubtractin and inia dffrnc Evn hr in any ca h init that

puricatin and pur includin th cunicatn f traitr and thctarian dfnc aaint dviatin and hri f all kind ar cnpractic thruhut th twntith cntury in any artitic avantardrup fr urrali undr Andr Brtn t th ituatinit undr GuyDbrd a wll a in pychanalytical rup fr Frud t acan

pa ('splace): hi i a nli r prtantau wrd bad n a cntractin f espae de plaemen 'pac f placnt t can b undrtd a a

naynny fr 'tructur r vn 'yblic rdr vn thuh thr i ntrict parallli with ithr Althur r acan That which Bad iu call 'tat

f a ituatin in Beng and Even and 'wrld in gs f Wlds al ruhlycrrpnd t 'plac in The f he Sube Th dialctical cuntrpart tth 'plac i th 'utpl ac jut a 'plac in nral functin in a dialcticalppitin with 'frc tartin a arly a n Badiu The f nadn

Etatique and tatme ('statist and 'statism) Whil in he f he SubeBadiu ha nt yt fully dvlpd th ntin f 'tat f th ituatin whichwil b pivta in Beng and Even h d rly n a r f tr t dcribth tatic tatit r tatlik natur f crtan hitricplitical phnna.n Enlh th tr cannt aly b paratd fr th n that tranlatth rnch saque which Badiu u bth a an adctiv 'tatic) and anun une saque a 'tatic r 'tatic prhap vn a 'tatitic n th tylical n f th tr a a cinc f th tat Sask in Gran) appd t une dnamque a 'dynaic r 'dynac) A rlatd prin ifae a 't draw up a n vrviw 't invntry r fr th prnt cnttt dn a tat f affar fr apl rardin th bn f th wrkincla.

vanouiement and terme vanouiant ('vanishing and 'vanishing term)Th bac pratin f th tructural dalctic whrby a ttality r whl icntitutd a th ffct f an abnt r vanhin cau Svanu al an't faint 't fad away r ut) 't pa ut r 't di away. n th nth tr nt withut rcalln th rl f aphanass r 'fadin n Lacanian

pychanalyi Th ain iplid rfrnc hwvr i t th Althurancncptualizatin f 'tructural cauality in F ax and Readng apalunl acquAlain Millr riht aaint Althur in clain patrnity frthi cncpt undr th na f 'tnyical cauality A third nalicalln inally wuld tak u fr Spnza 'abnt r 'iannt cau tluz 'quaicau a dicud n The Lg fSense all th way t Zikrcnt rturn t th a tructurin prncipl. What huld bc clarfr thi ntwrk f rfrnc urrundin th cncpt f th vanihintr th tnt t whch Badiu in The fhe Sube i ivin fr t auniqu typ f 'pttructural thinkin that tak t tak th ntir traditinf th 'tructural dactic withut inrin t fundantal iniht

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'th bin of ack I consistnty stick to ack of bin instad o wanttob

Passe ('pass or 'passing) Badou frqunty has rcours to ths trm boh nits common sns and in its tchnica manin in th acanian schoo of psy choanaysis or acan who instatd th procdu r in 1 967 as part o his oleFeudienne de Pai th pae provds an institutiona structur for th passafrom anaysand to anayst that is h nd of anaysis tstid by th paan

to a committ of paeu or 'passrs who in urn ray th account to a jurywho dcids whthr or not to award h 'pass In heo of he Subje Badiourfrs to th hatd dbats provokd by his procdur up to tn yars aft r itsntroduction by acan who upon istnin in sinc to th forma compaintsraisd at a mtin in 97, wnt so far as to ca it a 'compt faiu ) Insoaras th procdur invovs th possibiity of transmittin knowd avoi)about th anaytica practic Badiou taks an intrst n la pae simiar to hro of th univrsa ransmission of mathmatics in th scintiic communy.Amon th many common manins th noun la pae and th vrb paecan rfr to passa 'pas s 'patch passin for ovr by ) crossin 'ointhrouh skippin ndin and so on Rvant xprssions incud paeun exaen to pass an xam faie une pae to mak a pass pae en foe'push throuh and o de pae password In addition Badiou systmaticaypays on th diactc btwn pae and ipae somims spt i-paewith a dash so as to hihiht th pun) in a ky arumnt that wi rapparin Being and Even.

Place ('place) Throuhout heo of he Subje Badiou xpoits th tnsionbtwn that which can b mappd topooicay in trms o spacs pacsand spac on on hand and on th oth that which is atopoica thatis forc or th vnt. I did not nd a sinican difrnc btwn plae andlieu that woud warrant a soid distincton btwn pac and ocus or sitBadiou frqunty insists on th dadnin ffct of that which mains uplae 'in its pac or 'on h sam spot most oftn as th rsut of an ovry

strucura mphasis in which pac and spac tak prcdnc ovr forc andth outpac Faie d u u plae is aso a cooquia xprssion that rfrs to thquas immobi stur by which a cycst at a stopiht or at th start of a actris to rmain sti with both ft strappd on th pdas Intrstiny in heogi of Sene Duz dscribs an thics of wiin th vnt in tms of 'a sortof apin n pac au u plae

Point d'arrt ('hating point or 'stopping pont): A trm usd in heo ofhe Subje to rf to thos siniirs hat put an nd o th sidin of mtaphors and monymis in Maarms potry Badiou rfrs spciay to thamphora th mastr and th ptyx in th famous 'Sonnt aorica of itsand proposs to rad ths thr snirs in trms of dath th pot a nd th

pur sinii of th sinir as such Invokin a quotation from harman

xxxv

TRANSLATORS INTROUCTION

Mao W wi com to know vrythin w did not know bfor) a quotaon that wi b rusd in ogi of Wold aains th doma of nitud Bad ioudnis h xistnc of insuprab hatin points and afrms th opnnddnatur of th priodzd diactca procss Poin da in heo of he Subjethus has a compty diffrnt manin from th on it has in Being and Evenwhr th void or mpty st is said to b th ony hatin point of mutipicity that is mutipicity os a th way down qua mutip of mutips unti

th void In Ehi nay asid from its onooica manin poin d a asorfrs to th 'unnamab that must not b forcd in th nam of truth ston fas into th vi of a disastr This concpt of th unnamab with itsconnotation of an insuprab imitpoint cain out for an thics of rspct ispury and simpy abandond in ogi of Wold whr Badiou onc aainconsistnt with his rturn to h quotation from Maoafrms that thrar aways consquncs and no unknowabs. In this ast sns it is worthkpin in mind for heo ofhe Subje as w that poin da can b undrstood not ony as hatin point or stoppin point but aso as 'no hatin orno stoppin at a. Drida in his radin of Mauric Banchots A de o(eah Senene), has xhaustivy dconstructd th inuistic possibiitisaffordd by th sini a

Processus subjectif ('subjective process) A trm dircty and xpicty borrowd rom acans Ei to dsnat on of th two aspcts o r tmporaitisof th subjct namy th durab onoin and most oftn aborious timof rcomposition that ivs a subjct consistncy ithr in th uis of a nwform of justic or in th uis of th supros trrorizin ca to ordr Thothr momnt or tim of th subct is cad subjctivization

Rel ('real) Badiou tnds to us ths trm in a way that is rminiscnt of Lacansus without vr fuy coincidin with its tchnica manin or manins inth triad of th ra th symboic and th imainary I hav chosn not to usa ar capita whn transatin th trm as 'h) ra in an ffot both toav intact th uidity of Badious us of th trm and to avod associations

with Nw A trminooy as in Enish discussions of Badious work thatrndr a his ky concpts with ar capitas: Bn Evnt Truth and so on.Badiou aso pays on th nch xprssions poin du el point of th ra butaso 'not ra or not of th ra at a) and poin el 'ra point with poin asa noun but aso not at a ra wth poin as an advrb)

Retouement ('reversa occasiona 'return) Ths trm usd in th titof Part IV in ordr to propos a matraist rvrsa of matriaism is rmniscn o but aso somwhat diffrnt from th usua invrsion ( Uehungn Grman or enveeen in th typica rnch transations) by which Marxor xamp caims to put th Hian diactic 'back on its ft. Th diffrnc stms from th fact that eouneen asid from a turnin ovr

upsid down insid out) aso voks a 'rturn (eou) and a 'urnin back

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r 'sndin back (retouer) inaly th rnch trm als srvs t translat Hldrins ntin f a 'rturn r 'rvrsal ( Umkehr in Grman) in hsRmarks n "Antn n a amply cmmntd upn in art fBadius Theo of the Subjet

Subjecivaion 'ubjectivization) A trm drcty and xplciy brrwdfrm Lacan t dsinat n f th tw aspcts r tmpralts f th subjctnamly th hasty slhly hystical and mst ftn shrtlivd im f nrruptin and dstructin whch accrdn t Theo of the Subjet aks h frmf ithr anxiy r cura Bruc ink n hs translatn f Lacans rits,and Ovr ltham n his translain f Being and ent pt fr th spllin'subjctivizatin which I hav adptd as wll whil Slavj Zk and Albrtscan usually prfr th mr liral 's ubjctvan

Topique 'toology occaionally 'toic) A trm usd n Theo of theSubjet, rst t dsinat Marx and rds rspctiv 'tpls r tpraphs f th subjct f class and f th uncnscus and thn t maput th varius discurss f 'thcs n th bks nal part itld Topiquesde thique, whch hav transatd as 'Tpics f Ethics s as t maintainsmthn f th wrldplay that wuld b lst if had chsn pls fEthics r 'Ethical plis Badu als has in mnd and pnly discusss

Lacans tplc a nvstiatins frm his nal sm nars Thr may vn ba fant ch f Caud LvStrauss rat wrk f structural anthrplyTristes Tropiques

Torsion and orsade 'torion and 'twit) Ths is n f h pivtal and mstbscur cncpts f Theo of the Subjet In part cnditnd by mathmatics whs albraic 'trsin rups Badu dscusss a sm nth n thbk th cncpt f 'trsin at th sam tim functins n a much bradrsns t rfr t th way n whch a subjct wrks back upn th structurthat dtrmins it n th irst plac n ths sns torsion s rlatd t forage,anthr cncpt brrwd frm mathmatics and discussd in Theo of theSubjet that will bcm vn mr cntral in Being and ent Torsade, lik

tresse 'intlacin) dsnats th twstd unty f h subjct itsf that sth dividd articuatin f cura anxity justic and th supr in twbasc trajctris th scalld md frm cura t justc) and mdfrm anxity th sup) and accdin t tw tmpralits th timf intrruptin r dstructn anxty and cura) and th tm f cmpsitin ustic and th supr) ntrstinly acqus Rancir als dnsptcs n trms f a cnsttutiv 'trsn that trats a spcc tort r wrnin Disagreement Politis and Philosophy

(Le) Tou 'Whole 'Totality or 'the All) Aain a trm usd wth a cmbinatin f Hian and Lacanian cnntatins t dsnat bth th ffc f avanshn caus namy th rsultin Whl and hat which lik any splacby frc mus ncludxclud smhn namly th uplac in rdr t

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TRANSLATOR S INTROUCTION

cm int bin qua ttality s that th Whl is als aways ntWhl rntAll

Tresse 'interlacing) A trm usd n th sam tplical vn as brin, nud,and torsade, t dsna th subjcts dvdd artculain Ohr translatinsculd hav bn braid 'plait 'wav r 'intr)wavin

Uni de conraires 'unity o f ooite or 'unity of contrarie) Ths basiccncpt f th dalctc whch is a s ld a s philsphy s usually translatd as'unity f ppsts in Enlish Whnvr Badiu nssts n h rl f 'cntraris r 'cnrarnss in rlatin t th principl f unit de ontraires, I rtainth mr litral translatin as unty f cntraris

Versan 'aect 'trand 'ide 'tendency or 'loe): A trm mst ftnusd t dsinat th tw 'sids r 'aspcts f th dalctc accrdin t Theoofthe Subjet structural sid and ts hstrcal sid th sd f pac and thsd f frc its albraic sd and ts tpica sd h idalist aspct andth matrialis aspct

Voie 'ath or 'road) A cmmn nun that Bad u furthr asscats wth thMarxist and mr spccally Mas dscussins abut th strul btwntw 'paths r tw 'rads th burs and th prltaran th rvsnistand h scaist Mr nrally spakn h trm is part f th tplical

rntatin bhnd Theo ofthe Subjet

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Preae

o itrodce mysef it o your story my reader hs is reay the aim ofprefaces so aptly amed hat they mst frish a proe of what theyprecede.

I have othig to prole if ot the certaity that I have ad to whichthe whoe abor of this book testiies amey that the moder phiosopher isas Agste Comte said already so log agoa systemaic proetaria.

hiosophy oday s deserted.Never expectig aythig from he State I hardly expect that the recet

libatios i hoor of he rose (Im wrtg this i y 198) w make

or largey disaffeced atioa provice lorish.he ievitabe rest of the ack of ambitios hoghs is a mediocre

poiti ad a devaled ethicsI aca fac t is probaby the other way arod. From the practical

reciatio of egaaria iversasm he evtable iferece is hatthe few forms of specialized kowedge to whch thoght s reegated ateast beyod he was of joraistc idiocy assre oly he rers of hefctoara

Is it presmpos to claim to ward off the icoveieces of the voido oes ow? I object that ay eterprise of this type has its embems

ad that moreover I am the east aloe of persos.xxxi

Of a those for whom I am testfyig ad who kow hat I kow itmitats frieds stdes difclt iterloctors provisioa or rerigeemiesI wsh to iscribe here he ame of oy oe a Sadevice

Hdreds of meetgs with him o which depeded a thosadhoghts pt ito praice agaist or srrodgs make it impossiblefor me to mark the lims of my idebedess o him

Eve thogh as a coseece of his prey poiical coceptio of

the trth Sadevice always makes the ora take precedece over thewrite the direcive over aayss i what foows the reader wil dthe few pblic traces of what the ra word so rarely oiced has fodi him of paraeed sigcace wthot eve kowig it

2

he form. It is tha of a semiar a gere to which aca has gve a deve digty.

Who wi say whether he lessos ht make p this work were reallyrooced o the date that pctates them?his ideal semiara mxtre of a effective sccessio some reroac

ios spposed ierpolaos ad writte compostioscertay ddake pace. he preset book is its secod occrrece.

he easest method s o dobt to go from the opeig aary 1 95 othe a sspeso e 99 . Whie it s hardy ever admited I kowthat this s ot the commo practce philosophy. hs t is legitimate tosppose ad to sppor a acte waderg o behalf of the reader.

At the ed ca be fod

A thematic idex with seve headigs ar ad literatre hisoricalircmstaces God ogic ad mathematics raditioal philosophypsychoaaysis stricto ses ad potcal theory. Of corse oe ofhese headigs cocers he cetra theme of he book whch I hopecaot be paced der ay headig sice it is omipreset.

A idex of proper ames which is so sef for kowig by bocig off he Oher where ca be ocated a actic of the drawer ofwhich I do o at all dsapprove. poit otad i so doig aready begi o pt my cards o theblehat his idex does o icde those ames whose sage is

so permaet tha listig hem wold be wieldy. Namelyxxxx

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xl

a) he two great classical German dialecticians, Hegel and Hlderli nhe enire beginning of the book is devoted to the rs hesecond is treated at the end o art and in art V. Bu bothcan be found elsewhere, too

b) he wo great modern French dialecticians Mallarm andacan here is an exhausive treatment o the rst in art and of the second principally in ars and V.

he two grea classical French dialecicians, ascal and Rousse au,for their part do end up in the list

c) Four o the ve great Marxists Marx, Engels, enin, and MaoZedonghe fh, Stalin, is on he index.

3

t is no doub more instructive to wrie with respect o wha one doesnot want to be at any price than under the suspicious image of wha onewishes to become

am strongly attached to my counry, France, even more so todaysince here people are becoming multinationalan advanage o internalinternationalism indirecly provoked by he imperialis pillaging o goodsand peoples

n a little less than a cenury this country has had only three claims togreatness, three moments o real existence, three gures of a possible universalism he aris ommune in 87 he Resisance between 9 and 945 and the uprising of youths and workers in Mayune 98

know they are of uneual imporance. t is no cear that my hierarchy

is he one in which they should be given he presen book is also writeno shed some light on this mater

n he same period there has been no shortage of abject moments heysometimes ollowed their explosive contrariesthe triumph of Versaillesaer the ommune, the colonial wars aer the iberation, and, minuscule, the 'new philosophers ater the establishment o revoluionaryinellectuals in the factory.

he two World Wars were disasrous he people fought when theyshould not have ( 9 8) a nd hey did no ght when they should have( 93 90) . he sinister signier 'tain covers both debasements.

could say right away tha do not wan to be a part of any of these

abjections hilosophy is no worth a single effor if i does not shed lighon the commitmen ha, even i it is restriced, seeks to prohibit the returno the ve caasrophes, or o whaever resembles hem, by carrying hememory and lesson o he three momens o existence

More profoundly, know that the essence of what has happened to us,in orceulness as in humiliaion, bears he mark of a deciency in the longterm t is for this reason that the irrupion, while cerainly thunderous, is

also fragile, withou making he mora l disorientation, which is predictablefrom aar, any less inevitablehis deciency is essentially subjective t touches on the manner in

which the potenial orces, at he hear of the people , are kept at a disancefrom heir proper concep

hose French inellectuals who have not stopped spitting on themselves, on 'ideologies, on Marxism, on he Masters, on heir most incontestable experience, and who have given credibility to the formless andhe multiple, to spontaneiy and scatered memory, o rights and enjoyments, to works and days, have a painul responsibility in all of thisthatof irresponsibility

write and act, bu it is hard to disinguish beween he two, in ordernot o be, if possible, explicitly mixed up in these phenomena of ailureand bitterness he fact that it has taken fty years does no maer tome, because all he res will be a futile shipwreck in a world henceorthheaded for war, i there is not at leas he xed will, collectively submittedo he high level o its stakes, to go agains he current and imprin i onlya gesture of irection to that which might ge us ou o the slump.

4

n ulien Gracs ettrine here is a terrible passage, a fascinating portraitof he French intellecuallost and useless when he is asked, when theworker ask him, simply to be someone enlighened, a realist leader. concerns once again this inexhaustible analyser, he ommune

Bohemians o the pen, j ournalists paid by the line, greying tuors, overaged studens, hallicensed graduaes in search o private lessons itis indeed in par the small world from Scene of Bohemian Life turnedsour, which has made such a pretty burial or Victor Noir and whichwih such incapacity has governed the ommune among he casks the

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Everything that beongs to a whole onstittesan obstale to this whole nsoar as it is inldedin it

January 7, 1975

Old egel split in twoScission determination limitSplace andouplaceDeviations on the right and left

here are two dialectical matrices in egel his is what turns the famousstory of the shell and the kernel into such a dubious enigma. I is thekernel itself that is cracked, as in hose peaches that are furthermore soirritating to ea whose hard internal obect uickly cracks between onesteeth into two pivoing halves.

In the peach here is still a kernel of the kernel the bitter almondshaped nut of its reproducion as a ree But out of Hegel s division we willdraw no secondary unity not even one stamped with bitterness.

We must understand what Lenin repeated a bit all over the place theretrospective good news that Hegel is a materialist t is worthless merelyto oppose an (acceptable) dialectical kernel to an (abominable) idealis-ic shell he dialectic inasmuch as it is the law of being is necessarilymaterialist. f egel touched upon i, he must have been a materialist.is other side will be hat of an idealisdialectic in a single word, whichhas nohing real about it not even in the register of an inverted symbolicndication (standing on its head as Marx said) .

So at the heart of the egelian dialectic we must disentangle two proc-esses two concepts of movement and not just one proper view of becomingthat would have been corrupted by a subjective system of knowing hus:

3

THEORY OF THE SUBJECT THE PLACE OF THE SUBJECTVE


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4

a) A dialectical matrix covered by the term of alieatio the idea of asimple term which ufolds itself i its becomigother, i order tocome back to itself as a achieved cocept.

b) A diaectical matrix whose operator is scissio, ad whose themeis that there is o uity that is ot split. here is ot the least bitof retur ito itself, or ay coectio betwee the al ad theiaugural. Not eve 'itegral commuism as the retur, after the

exteriorizatio ito the State, to the cocept of which 'primitive commuism would be the simple immediacy.

Ye thigs are far from beig so simple

2

et us begi with a empty otio, at oce limited ad prodigiouslygeera: the otio of the somethig, which is the rst form of beigthere i Hegels Logic

Hegels objective, with his somethig, is othig less tha to give riseto the dialectic of the Oe ad the may, of the iite ad the ite,that is, the priciple of what we orthodox Marxists call quatitativeaccumulatio, which, as everyoe kows, is reputed to produce a quaitative leap

he mystery, moreover, is that all of this i Hegels Logic ca be foududer the headig of 'quality, which i the order of expositio precedesquatity.

However, it is Hegel who is right as always, because othig ca be saidof the Oe without egagig the qualitative ad force. his is why oe of

the objectives of what we are sayig here is to establish that the famous'leap from the quatitat ive to the qualitative, far from beig the measurethat makes al the thermometers expode, icludes the effect of a subject.

Hegel i ay case is at pais to egeder the multiple, t he deumerable,isofar as his idealist propesity pushes him always to obtai everythigo the basis of a simple term. How ca the multiple proceed from theOe, ad from the Oe aloe his is a questio as old as philosophy, butit has always held more puch for someoe who caims to historicize theWhole, istead of merely givig us the law of its xed order. Aready withthe Church Fathers, those great fouders of coceptua history, it wasecessary to accout for the fact that God, the absolute form of the Oe,

was abe to pulverize a uiverse o f such astig multiplicity o prove Godby the marves of aturefrom the frog to the uicor (except that theuicor rather proes the existece of the Devil)is oe thig to provehe marvels of ature by God is much more complicated, sice God isecessariy the marvel of marvels.

Hegel is the moder courer of this ecclesiastical questio. stead ofsayig that there is creatio of the Whole by the Oe, Hege will show that

the Whole is the history of the Oe, so that the space of the multiple isthe effect of the time required for the cocept. For the coup d forc of themiracuous Creator, he substitutes the work, the sufferig, ad the circular duratio of a kid of sefexpo sure, through which the absolut e arrivesat the completely ufoded cotemplatio of itself. Ad it is this joureythrough the gaeries of the Oe that is the whole of the world.

Of course, the iitial coup d forc that is thus glossed over shows up agai every subsequet paragraph ust as it makes the heavy machiery ofhe global system advace, it is the very accumulatio of these arbitraryocal decrees that everywhere gives form to the acute ad partial framework of Heges materialism

3

rom the start Hege does ot posit the 'somethig al o its ow, but thedifferece betwee somethig ad somethig other (a und Andr What is thus recogized is that o dialectic is coceivable if it does otpresuppose divisio. It is the wo that gives its cocept to the Oe, adot the other way aroud

Naturay, there are all sorts of cotortios o Hegels part that serve tomask this recogitio. Everythig happesespecially i the rst editiorom 1 8 2 , which is the most idealist because the old Hegel cotrary towhat is sometimes said, always holds o to a reality pricipleas if the'somethig else were the postpositio of the 'somethig, its categoriabecomig But this is a smokescree. I fact, Hegel is goig to study thescissio of the somethig i a movemet that is prestructured by a rstscissio, which is i a way hidde bcau i i nially rpii: it is whatepeats the somethig i the positio of itself as other as somethigother his is exactly the operatio of the very begiig of the Logic,where beig ad othig are the same thig posited twice. Here, too, oeca 'track dow the becomigsplit of a category oy because oe gives

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oeself, whethe secrety or pblicly, this mimal primary differetial:two times Oe.

say that it is 't he same thig posite d twice becase alteity has here oalitative spport We ar, if yo will, at the daw of the altative, atits strctral skeleto. Thi oly differs from that by the statemet of thedifferece, by the literal placemet. Oe cold ame this mos stasisof the cotradictio the idexical stasis. here is A ad there is A (read:

A as sch ad 'A i aother place, amely, the pace p distrbted by thespace of placemet, or ).t is the same A twice amed, twice placed.his wil more tha sfce for them to corrpt oe aother.For yo ca cosider A ether i its pre, c losed idetity, or i its id exi

cal differece from its secod occrr ece. A is itself, bt it is also its powerof repetitio, the legibility of itself at a distace from tself, the fact that ata place, p, the other place, it s still A itself that s read, albeit 'other thathere where t stads, eve f it is owhere, sice t is see there too.

Hegel ames these two determatios the somethgiitself ad thesomethigfortheother. he 'somethig, as a pre category, is the ty

of these two determiatios, the movemet of their dality.his s proof that i order to thik aythig at all, somethig o matter

what, it mst be splt i twoWhat is the meaig of the somethigitself ad the somethigfor-

theother? re idetity ad placed idetity the letter ad the space iwhich t is marked theory ad practice.

he giveess of mimal differece (somethg and somethg else)ecessarily cotracts to the xed term of the differece, the 'thig,whether it be some or else. A we said (ad A is the thig), is at thesame time A ad A whereby A is the geeric term for ay placemetof

Adeed, this ca be

Al A2 A . . with a ll the

. . .

belogig, for example, to . hs s what we will see later o: there area ity of places. s A i the geeralsiglar of placemet. Now,t s always i ths way that A presets itself (it is always placed) adrefses itself (becase, as placed, t is ever oly itself, A bt also its place,A . Frthermore, this is tre of aythig whatsoeverof somethig igeeral, of schadsch a thig.

We mst ths posit a costttive scissio: A (he dex, p, refers back to the space of placemet , the site of ay

possible redplicatio of A Note that this does ot have to be spatial orgeometrical a redpicatio ca be temporal, or eve ctive.

What Hegel does ot state clearly s that, fdametally, the tre iitialcotrary of the somethig, A is ot somethg else, ot eve the sameA 'placed, A No, the tre bt camofaged cotrary of A s the space ofplacemet t is that whch deegate the index. he gveess of A as beigitself split to

its pre beig, A its beigplaced, A

(Hedegger wold say: ito its otologcal beig ad its otic beig) isthe effect o A of the cotradctio betwee ts pre idetity ad thestrctred space to whch t belogs, betwee its beg ad the Whole.he dialectic dvides A based po the cotradcto betwee A ad ,betwee the exstet ad ts place. t is this cotradicto, whose latettheme is Mallarma (Nothig will have take place except the place),which, itrojected ito A, fods ts effective beg as scssio.

All of this is too mch of a atcipato, becase the cotradictobetwee A ad opposes a force to a system of places, ad we have otreached that pot yet

Let me throw jst a little fash of light, oe that moreover is perfectlyexcessive.

he tre cotrary of the proletariat is ot the borgeosie. t s theborgeois world, imperialist society, of which the proletariat, let this beoted, s a otoros elemet, as the pricipal prodctive force ad asthe atagoistc poltcal pole. he famos cotradictio of borgeoisie/proletariat s a limted, strctral scheme that loses track of the torsioof the Whole of whch the proletariat ua sbect traces the force. o sayproletariat ad borgeose s to remai with the bods of the Hegelaartice: somethig ad somethig else. Why? Becase the project of theproletarat, its iteral beig, is ot to cotradi ct the borgeosie, or to ctts feet from der t. hs proect is commism, ad othg else. hatis, the abolitio of ay place i which somethg lke a proletariat ca beistalled . he poltical proect of the proletarat is the dsappearace of thespace of the placemet of classes. t is the loss, for the hstorical somethg,of every dex of class.

Yo will say: ad what abot socialism? ocialism where, i fact, borgeoisie ad proletarat are more tha ever at loggerheads, icldig i thegse of precedeted revoltos, the cltral revoltios? ocalismdoes ot exist. t is a ame for a obscre arseal of ew coditiosi which the capitalism/commism cotradictio becomes somewhat

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claried. Socialism designaes a shifing maion of he space of he place-men of classes. Socialism is in he place of f here is a major poin inMarxism which his cenry conrms almos o he leve of disgs i isha we shold cerainly no inflae he esion of 'socialism of he 'consrcion of socialism. he serios affair he preie affair is commnism.his is why all along poliics sands in a posiion of dominaion over heSae and canno be redced o i And yo wi never redce all of his o

e binary povery of he conradicion erm agains erm of proeariaborgeoisie Marxism begins beyond his conradicion.

Wih Hegel we hs posi he scission A (AA) he effec of he complely veied conflical relaion beween A and he disribor of placeso which i is conneced Everyhing ha exiss is hs a he same imeiself and isef according ois place

Now Hege says ha wha deermine he spi erm wha gives i he

singlariy of is exisence is no of corse A he generic erm closed in onisef indifferen o any dialecic is raher A A according o he effecof he whole ino which i is inscribed.

Consider for example ha if he working class is inernally spiinclding dring hose heady imes marked by mass movemens beweenhe onse of is re poiica ideniy on one hand and on he oher islaen corrpion by borgeois or imperialis ideas and pracices heni is srey owing o he effec of ha which i disposes i in a Wholewheher naiona or globa governed by capia and empires his is whaholds ogeher wo oherwise so conrary pahs in he pracical niy ofan prising and which makes of he pre emergence of iself a process ofpricaion in he divisible conac wih is opposie.

his is re even nder socialism. n 96, in China armed facionsresis in all he large facories. Mao declares 'Nohing essenial divideshe working cass Does his amon o he facal observaion of a xedplace? No . his is a direcive for comba meaning ha he prolearia msake he ead of he revoion and ha sch is he hisorica gidinghread i ms hod ono for is niy ha is fr i eience (as poiicaclass) .

Al ha is relaes o iself a a disance from iself owing o he placewhere i is.

f A (AA) his is deermined by he indexical effec of on A. Wewill hs wrie A(AA) as he rs noaion of he deerminaion of hescission he rs algorihm of h niy of opposies.

n oher words wha Hegel cas Beimmung.Beimmung is in rn divided by wha i nies. is a major srengh

of he dialecic o grasp how he One of he niy of conraries spporsconrariness in is very being

Le s begin wih or example: he pracica (hisorical) working classis always he conradicory niy of isef as prolearia and of is specicborgeois inversion (oday modern revisionism he CF he radenions everyhing ha organizes he rallying of he working cass oimperialis sociey or even o he idea of leading his cass for he direcbene of he working arisocracy parially ahorized by breacraicsae capiaism). his niy of opposies is deermined (in he sense ofhe Hegeian Beimmung by he general borgeois space which bearshe possibe niy of he poliically acive (Marxis) prolearia and of heworking class as lace of he new sae breacraic borgeoisie (revision-ism). hs A = he working cass conemporary imperiais sociey.his gives s A = modern revisionism and he agorihm: A A(AA) in which is indicaed ha wha deermines he dialecical acaiy of heprolearia oday is is inernal pricaion from modern revisionism

B wha does 'deerminaion mean? wo hings

On he one hand ha he combaive Marxis core of he workingcass is deermined by he new revisionis borgeoisie. his is dial eci-cal deerminaion in he srong sense which can be wrien A(A).

On he oher hand ha revisionism in he nal analysis and moreand more so is never anyhing b he specic and homogeneosform adaped o he working class of he genera borgeois andimperialis space or . n he srgge o prify iself of his he pro-learia unma (his is he ahorized erm) he par of iself ha isengaged in revisionism and posis i as an inegral par of he exer-nal anagonisic erm which as we saw is no he borgeoisie bimperialis sociey of which he CF he nions and so on are hemodern effecive and acive sandardbearers. As sch deermina-ion only reconvokesrepeashe space of pacemen he generalaleriy of which p is he index for A. We wi wrie A(A) .his is a sor of dead branch of he dialecica process he reminderha he deerminaion of he scission A( AA) originaes from he fac

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tat A oly exsists i te site P. is is e iert, divisible part of tetotal determiatiowit te oer part, marked A(A), truly beigte itimate core of te deermiatio for A.

geeral, we ca say tat te determiatio of ay split exsistet isdistributive

dmiaio pop

lap i o h gal pacNohig will hav ak pla but th pla

Does Hegel really speak of tese dead braces of te process?Absolutely He calls tem 'relapses ck e . ey are te sadow castby e pace i its pure, evocative dimesio. D etermiatio, o te oerad, is te ew.

We tus obtai at tis stage, te followig great dialectical coceptsedowed wit a absolutely geeral otological import

a) Dierence of itself from itself, A ad A commaded by te contradiction betwee force A ad te space of pacemet P, of wic A is teidexica l istace for A. A importat poit to ote is tat i t is te co-tradictio tat commads differece, ad ot te oter way aroud.

b) Sciion as te oly form of existece of te sometig i geeral A (AA)

c ) Determination as uity of te scissio, tikable oly from te idexedterm (ad ot from te pure term) : A(AA)

d) e scissio of te determiatio accordig o wat it determies

determiatio of te ew, A (A) relapse A (A) P.

e essece of te relapse is t e space of placemet, t e placeA remark o termiology if oe opposes force to place, as I sall cotiu-

aly do, it will aways be more omogeeous to say 'space of placemet todesigate te actio of te sructure. It would be eve beter to forge tetermpace. If, o e cotrary, oe says 'p lace, wic is more Maarma,we will eed to say, i te Lacaia maer, 'placeoldi g or 'lieuteacyfor 'place. But

alain badiou - the theory of the subject

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