Alain Badiou’s "Being and Event" is indeed influenced by Heidegger, but it also represents a significant departure from Heidegger’s philosophy. Here’s a detailed look at the relationship between Badiou’s work and Heidegger’s ideas:
1. **Heidegger's Influence**:
- **Ontological Focus**: Like Heidegger, Badiou is deeply concerned with the nature of Being. Heidegger's question of Being ("Seinsfrage") forms a backdrop for Badiou’s own inquiries.
- **Event**: Badiou’s concept of the "event" has resonances with Heidegger’s "Ereignis," although Badiou develops it in a distinct direction. For Heidegger, Ereignis is about the mutual appropriation of Being and Dasein, where the event allows for the revelation and concealment of Being. Badiou, however, views the event as something that disrupts the order of being, introducing radical novelty and change.
2. **Philosophical Departures**:
- **Mathematics and Ontology**: Badiou grounds his ontology in set theory and mathematics, which is a significant departure from Heidegger’s phenomenological and existential approach. Badiou argues that mathematics, specifically set theory, provides the best framework for understanding the multiplicity of being.
- **Politics and Truth**: Badiou emphasizes the role of events in the production of truth, particularly in politics, art, science, and love. His events are occurrences that break with the established order and create new possibilities. This is different from Heidegger's focus on the historical unfolding of Being.
- **Subjectivity**: For Badiou, the subject is constituted through its fidelity to an event, whereas Heidegger’s notion of Dasein involves a more continuous engagement with Being.
3. **Critique and Dialogue**:
- **Engagement with Heidegger**: Badiou critically engages with Heidegger’s thought, acknowledging its influence while also positioning his own work in contrast to Heidegger’s. Badiou’s emphasis on the transformative power of events contrasts with Heidegger’s more contemplative approach to the question of Being.
- **Break with Historicism**: Badiou seeks to break from what he sees as the historicism in Heidegger's thought, proposing instead a more militant and radical conception of change and transformation.
In summary, while Alain Badiou’s "Being and Event" is influenced by Heidegger’s philosophy, particularly in its concern with the nature of Being and the role of events, it also marks a significant departure through its mathematical ontology, focus on radical change, and the creation of truth through events. Badiou's work can be seen as both a continuation of and a challenge to Heideggerian thought.
