Wherefore Art Thou Philosophy? Badiou without Badiou

Given the encroaching, seemingly pernicious backlash against Alain Badiou’s thinking, which appears partly motivated by the bad faith of “philosophical” rivalries, this essay aims to argue in favour of the ongoing and authentically philosophical stakes of Badiou’s ontology. At the same time the essay attempts to highlight the methodological difficulties Badiou encounters in attempting to reconcile an intrinsic ontology as the dominant condition of philosophy, with a philosophy of the event. The essay concludes by speculating on the “unbound”, “unconditioned” potential of this two-headed philosophy.