Why Badiou? He represents the introduction of Maoism into philosophy, as undertaken by a “great” philosopher—that is to say, a philosopher entirely apart—with all the inherent risk of this will and this greatness. He is an apogee of the modern tradition of philosophy, of its very essence brandished like a standard in the face of mathematics and with its aid. But, beneath this objective appearance, other stakes can be discerned. It would render Badiou banal to describe him merely as a master of “Western” modernity. His project is more profound: his intention is to “re-educate” philosophy. Beyond the various proclamations and summations—which we shall not rely on to prove our point at the level of the most obvious principles—he pursues the project of the re-education of philosophy through mathematics, and not at all that of the constitution of a mathematically based science of philosophy (supposing such a thing were possible). This enterprise has no equivalent in the history of philosophy (except perhaps