Alain Badiou is a French philosopher, professor at
European Graduate SchoolThe European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
, formerly chair of
PhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the
École Normale SupérieureThe École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
(ENS). Along with
Giorgio AgambenGiorgio Agamben is an Italian political philosopher best known for his work investigating the concepts of the state of exception and homo sacer....
and
Slavoj ŽižekSlavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
, Badiou is a prominent figure in an anti-
postmodernPostmodernity is generally used to describe the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist after modernity...
strand of
continental philosophyContinental philosophy, in contemporary usage, refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe. This sense of the term originated among English-speaking philosophers in the second half of the 20th century, who used it to refer to a range of thinkers and...
. Badiou seeks to recover the concepts of
beingOntology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
,
truthTruth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
and the
subjectIn philosophy, a subject is a being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness or a relationship with another entity . A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed...
in a way that, he claims, is neither postmodern nor simply a repetition of
modernityThe Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
. Politically, Badiou is committed to the far left, and to the communist tradition.
Badiou was a student at the
Lycée Louis-Le-GrandThe Lycée Louis-le-Grand is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most rigorous in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.It offers both a...
and then the
Ecole Normale SupérieureThe École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
(1957–1961).