In his review for Prospect of The Adventure of French Philosophy by Alain Badiou, Jonathan Rée poses the question as to whether French philosophy is the country’s greatest export. Rée briefly details the rich history of what Badiou calls the “French moment” in contemporary thought. Focusing on Jean-Paul Sartre, Rée suggests that his and the work of other French theorists has always been received by the English speaking world with “a certain streak of madness.” Whilst the article locates Badiou as ‘the latest in the line of French philosophy professors who have had global greatness thrust upon them,’ Rée also states:
… in one respect at least, he defies the stereotype: he is a Mr Valiant-for-Truth, a believer in invariant external verities, and a born-again Platonist, committed to philosophy as “the discipline of the concept,” and mathematics as the revelation of reality.
This weekend Slavoj Žižek was in Athens with Alexis Tsipras,the president of SYRIZA—the Coalition of the Radical Left—and Kostas Douzinas, Philosophy of Law professor of Birbeck, University of London, to discuss European austerity and Greece's pivotal position to elect a government that counters the "madness of market ideology." Expanding on his recent essay in the London Review of Books, Žižek argues that far from being the "irresponsible, lazy, free-spending, tax-dodging" thorn of Europe, the Greeks are the very lifeblood of the Europe to come. "Far from a threat to Europe, you are giving a chance to Europe to break out of its inertia, to find a new way."
If you can read Greek, there is more stuff here, from Red Notebook. Žižek's latest from Verso is Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism.
Today, Big Think hosts their exclusive interview with Slavoj Žižek on the publication of his new book Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism. In this 3-minute segment, Žižek discusses some of the key issues that frame his more than 1,000-page mega-book on Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who Žižek considers his most important influence.
Slavoj Žižek has been interviewed by Al Jazeera to give his unique perspective on the tumultuous changes happening in the world financial and political systems. In an extensive conversation with Tom Ackerman, Žižek discussed the Arab Spring, London Riots and the Occupy movement, as well as the various financial and political crises across the world from Europe to India. Throughout the discussion, Žižek explored the themes of violence across the political spectrum and his irresistible desire to provoke friends and enemies alike.
Visit Al Jazeera to view the interview in situ.
Žižek also visited St Marks bookshop to discuss his views on the Occupy Wall Street protest.