The Courage for Infininity

In their new article, Patrick O'Connor and Frederick Aspbury investigated the tensions between finite and infinite versions of ethics in the philosophy of Alain Badiou.  They argued that there is an irreconcilable tension between the historical and anhistorical in Badiou's ontology, stemming from the way Badiou bases his ethics on his mathematical ontology. The consequence is that while Badiou is a very valuable resource for thinking progressive forms of political thought, his work needs to be supplmented with a more historicized understanding of the human being. This the authors argue, in the last analysis, should focus on a mortal  and realistic understanding of courage.  

Patrick O'Connor and Frederick Aspbury (2013), The courage for infinity: mortal and immortal ethics in Alain Badiou. The Journal of the British Society of Phenomenology, 44 (2).