Summary
A brief introduction to the reception of "French theory"
Prepared by: Dejan Aničić
Francois Cusset, Jonathan Culler, Stanley Fish, Alain Badiou, Michel Foucault
"Philosophy is the universal ambition of the mind, and at the same time it manifests itself through quite unique moments. Let's take two examples, two particularly intense and well-known philosophical moments. First we have the moment of Greek classical philosophy, between Parmenides and Aristotle, between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC, a creative, founding, and, finally, rather short moment in time. Then we have another example, the moment of German idealism, between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, an intense, creative and, again, a short moment in time. I would like to argue a historical and national thesis: there was or is, depending on where I stand, a French philosophical moment that takes place in the second half of the 20th century and is comparable - with all their differences - to which I have just mentioned to you: the moment of Greek classical philosophy and the moment of German idealism. Let's take the second half of the 20th century: "Being and Nothingness", Sartre's fundamental work, appeared in 1943, and Deleuze's last writings, "What is philosophy?", come from the beginning of the 90s."
Alain Badiou, The French Philosophical Moment
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