Much Badiou about Nothing: Productive Misreadings of Mathematical Ideas and Isiah Medina’s 88:88

Clint Enns

Much Badiou about Nothing: Productive Misreadings of Mathematical Ideas and Isiah Medina’s 88:88

Abstract

Kepler's model for the solar system was constructed following the formal beauty of the Platonic Solids. Although not scientifically accurate, this model prompted many scientific advancements given that Kepler attempted to justify it using empirical evidence and, until that point in history, scientific research was mainly descriptive. In this article, I will argue that productive misreadings of mathematical ideas have the potential to lead to original concepts, and are not necessarily detrimental to the social sciences as physicist Alan Sokal (1998) and others contend. In particular, I will argue that French philosopher Alain Badiou's claim that "mathematics is ontology" is based on a mistake analogous to Kepler's — namely, that Badiou based the underlying structure for his ontological claims on set theory due to its perceived beauty. In spite of this, it will be shown that Badiou's conceptualization allows for novel ontological insight.

Keywords Badiou set theory ontology film

Cite this article

Enns, C. (2023). Much Badiou about Nothing: Productive Misreadings of Mathematical Ideas and Isiah Medina’s 88:88. M×Φ — Annals of Mathematics and Philosophy, 1(2), 1–23.

Enns, Clint. “Much Badiou about Nothing: Productive Misreadings of Mathematical Ideas and Isiah Medina’s 88:88.” M×Φ — Annals of Mathematics and Philosophy 1, no. 2 (2023): 1–23.

Enns, Clint. “Much Badiou about Nothing: Productive Misreadings of Mathematical Ideas and Isiah Medina’s 88:88.” M×Φ — Annals of Mathematics and Philosophy, vol. 1, no. 2, 2023, pp. 1–23.

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  title = {{Much Badiou about Nothing: Productive Misreadings of Mathematical Ideas and Isiah Medina’s 88:88}},
  author = {Clint Enns},
  journal = {M×Φ — Annals of Mathematics and Philosophy},
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  year = {2023},
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  language = {en},
  keywords = {Badiou, set theory, ontology, film},
  url = {https://www.mxphi.com/all-issues/volume-i-number-2-2023/much-badiou-about-nothing/},
  note = {License: CC BY-ND 4.0},
}

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