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Theory Video: Alain Badiou On Love, Happiness, and Communism (Patreon)

Published:

2018-07-23 17:05:49

Imported:

2026-06

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Alain Badiou Lacan Theory Reading

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This week's video is an excerpt from a lecture French philosopher Alain Badiou delivered in 2012. In past years, the old communist Badiou has turned his attention to categories like love and happiness. In his short work "In Praise of Love," Badiou claims that "love is the smallest form of communism," meaning the equality, unity, and common experience found between two people in love is a form of communism between two people. In this video Badiou makes the dialectical distinction between satisfaction and happiness, where he elevates happiness to a political category that must be fought for in our current age which promotes satisfaction in the form of answering market desires as a good in itself.

Alain Badiou has had a storied career in the French left, he studied with Louis Althusser and was influenced by Jacques Lacan. Despite his influence Badiou has carved his own path and reintroduced many concepts of Plato's into French philosophy. His masterpiece Being and Event is one of the more interesting works connecting his reinterpretations of Marxism, Platonism, Lacan, and Althusser. Diving into Badiou requires patience, as he works within a specific tradition and certain words in his work carry added weight, which can be missed without spending the time to familiarize with his concepts. But I find Badiou provides a rather beautiful view of the world, political struggle, and communism, that goes beyond just destroying unjust systems to providing the proper arena for us to pursue life's virtues.

-David Griscom

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Alain Badiou on Being Happy

Nexus Conference 'How to Change the World?' Keynote lecture Alain Badiou, part 2 2 December 2012, Amsterdam Revolution is of all times. Man in revolt, who fights against the injustice of those in power and aims for a better world, has always existed. In our world, we see the rekindling of the revolutionary fire: movements such as Occupy, the Arab Spring and the South European indignados rebel against the powers that be. The same goes for populist political parties and groups like the Tea Party. Which ideal is worth fighting for? And why should the world be changed? During the 2012 Nexus Conference, prominent international speakers discuss the question how we can change the world. Is a better world really possible? Is man truly free, or does he allow those in power to manipulate him, and commercialism to corrupt him all too easily? How can change be achieved? And what should our world come to look like? www.nexus-instituut.nl