Eric Marty's Philosophical Clash with Alain Badiou Over 'The Jew'
In 'Une querelle avec Alain Badiou', Eric Marty dissects his intellectual dispute with Alain Badiou, centered on Badiou's book 'Circonstances, 3, Portées du mot "juif"'. Marty distinguishes the quarrel from mere pamphlet, focusing on ideas over personalities. He critiques Badiou's claims that Israel is a colonial state and that Claude Lanzmann's film 'Shoah' is a 'Nazi film'. Marty argues these assertions reveal political and aesthetic ignorance. The deeper philosophical issue concerns the universal versus the particular: Badiou views Jewish particularity as an obstacle to universalism, while Marty defends Jewish singularity as a 'sign of contradiction' that challenges both abstract universalism and tribal particularism. Marty insists Badiou is not antisemitic but rather seeks to overcome antisemitism by subsuming Jewish identity into a universal subject. The book includes contributions by Cécile Winter and references thinkers like Yehoshua Leibovitz, Edgar Morin, and René Girard. Published by Gallimard in the L'infini collection, the work engages with the legacy of Sartre's 'Réflexions sur la question juive'.
Key facts
- Eric Marty's book 'Une querelle avec Alain Badiou' is published by Éditions Gallimard in the L'infini collection.
- The dispute centers on Alain Badiou's 'Circonstances, 3, Portées du mot "juif"', which includes a text by Cécile Winter.
- Marty distinguishes between a pamphlet (attacking the person) and a quarrel (engaging with ideas).
- Badiou asserts that Israel is a colonial state and that Lanzmann's 'Shoah' is a Nazi film.
- Marty counters that Israeli Arab parliamentarians have rights and freedoms not found in neighboring countries.
- Badiou and Winter argue that Jewish particularity as sacred election mirrors Nazi ideology.
- Marty compares Badiou's universalism to Sartre's democrat who would destroy the Jew as Jew to preserve the abstract human.
- Marty concludes that Israel is a 'sign of contradiction' that prevents reason from closing in on itself.
- The book references thinkers including Yehoshua Leibovitz, Edgar Morin, René Girard, and Paul Celan.
- Marty explicitly states Badiou is not antisemitic but seeks to end antisemitism by universalizing Jewish identity.
Entities
Artists
- Eric Marty
- Alain Badiou
- Cécile Winter
- Claude Lanzmann
- Yehoshua Leibovitz
- Edgar Morin
- René Girard
- Paul Celan
- Primo Levi
- Stéphane Mallarmé
- Jean-Paul Sartre
Institutions
- Éditions Gallimard
- L'infini
Locations
- Israel
- Moyen-Orient
- Bavière
- Knesset
Sources
- artpress —