Alain Badiou teaches at the École Normale Supérieure and at the Collège International de Philosophie in Paris, France. He is the author of Being and Event and The Logic of Worlds as well as numerous plays, novels and political essays.Kenneth Reinhard is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Susan Spitzer is a frequent translator of Badiou’s works.

Alain Badiou is that rare thing: a true Philosopher. In an age of cynicism, nihilism, relativism, and the deadening suspicion of thought, Badiou remains true to the courage that characterises Philosophy from the very beginning. Casting his rational and patient eye over developments in thought, religion and mathematics, Badiou continues to grapple with the infinite in this admirably clear work. Everyone is already capable of thought, Badiou suggests, the point is to realise it.

• List of SymbolsIntroduction, Kenneth Reinhard (UCLA, USA)PrologueSection I: The Classic Forms Of FinitudeSection II: The Modernity Of Finitude: Covering-OverSection III: The Supremacy Of InfinitySection IV: On The Edge Of The AbsoluteSection V: Conditions For Defeating Covering-OverSection VI: Parmenides’ Revenge.Section VII: The General Theory Of Works-In-TruthSection VIII: Works Based On The Object: Art, ScienceSection IX: Works Based On Becoming: Love, PoliticsGeneral ConclusionAppendices