Abstract

This chapter outlines Alain Badiou's theory of the truth-event. Noting that the event represents the possibility of what the dominant cultural order deems impossible, the chapter aligns the event with the eruption of the Lacanian real ("the immortal") within the social fabric. Paying particular attention to Badiou's distinction between the event and the simulacrum, as well as to the ever-present temptation to betray the event, it foregrounds the similarities between Badiou's "ethic of truths" and Lacan's injunction to not cede on one's desire (to remain faithful to the truth of one's desire even in the face of social opposition). The chapter ends by arguing that naming the event does not necessarily imply betraying it, as Slavoj Zizek has claimed, but merely highlights the idea that truth is not a fixed entity but rather calls for an ongoing process of elaboration.

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