New Leading Thinkers course on Alain Badiou

The PACT Division of the EGS is very pleased to announce that the “Leading Thinkers” series will continue with a course on Alain Badiou led by Professor Frank Ruda. The price for this 8-week course is $450. It will be conducted on Zoom.

Dates: November 16 – January 11, 2025
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (CET) / 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. (EST)

Leading Thinkers: Alain Badiou

Alain Badiou is without any doubt one of the most globally renowned French philosophers alive today. His – often difficult – oeuvre manifests an attempt to bring together the consequences of Heidegger’s thought, of Lacanian psychoanalysis, of 20th century mathematics, of 20th century revolutionary politics, of diverse artistic practices, including inter alia poetry, theatre, music, dance or cinema, and of contemporary practices of love that seeks to recommence philosophy for today. This leads Badiou to formulate a novel theory of subjectivity and a novel concept of truth that are interwoven with a new conceptualization of history – linked to the concept of the event – that even affect what we mean by “being.” This “leading thinkers” course will engage with Badiou’s work by offering a series readings of some of the most crucial texts and books, which will not only help us to familiarize ourselves with Badiou’s terminology in detail, but will also discuss the scope
and scale of a thinker who aims at nothing but a renewal of Platonism for the 21 st century.

Frank Ruda is a philosopher and currently Professor for Modern and Contemporary Philosophy at the University of Dundee, Scotland. He is a member of the Scottish Centre for Continental Philosophy and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Philosophy at Scientific Research Center, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In addition to several edited collections and numerous book chapters and articles, Ruda has authored several books: Freiheit in der Moderne/Indifference and Repetition, Komik und Fatalismus, Abolishing Freedom. A Plea for a Contemporary Use of Fatalism, For Badiou. Idealism Without Idealism, Hegel’s Rabble. An Investigation into Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Reading Marx (with Agon Hamza and Slavoj Žižek), The Dash – The Other Side of Absolute Knowing (with Rebecca Comay), Reading Hegel (with Agon Hamza and Slavoj Žižek). Currently, he is preparing a book on the concept of prehistory and stuckness (Stuckness. On the Modes of Production of the Absorption of Time) and on the concept of courage (Courage). Ruda is co-editor of the journal Crisis and Critique and co-authors a column (R-Files) at the Philosophical Salon of the Los Angeles Review of Books.

To receive more information and to apply, please contact Dr. Nemanja Mitrović (nemanja.mitrovic@egs.edu).