polity
First published in French as La vraie vie © Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2016
This English edition © Polity Press, 2017
Polity Press
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Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
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Malden, MA 02148, USA
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ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1492-2
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Badiou, Alain, author.
Title: The true life : a plea for corrupting the young / Alain Badiou.
Other titles: Vaie vie. English
Description: Malden, MA : Polity, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016038450 (print) | LCCN 2016047845 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509514885 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509514892 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781509514915 (Mobi) | ISBN 9781509514922 (Epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Youth--Social aspects. | Lifestyles. | Corruption. Classification: LCC HQ796 .B235 2017 (print) | LCC HQ796 (ebook) | DDC 305.235--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038450
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This book is based on lectures, all of which were intended mainly for young people and were delivered in a variety of places, including high schools, but also other institutions, both in France and abroad (in Belgium and Greece in particular), as well as in my seminar. One of them (the second chapter of this book) has already been published as an Afterword to Anthropologie de la guerre, a collection of Freud’s essays on war (Fayard, 2010). What I am offering here is the latest version of these lectures, with the idea of starting a discussion between contemporary youth and philosophy about what the true life is – in general, first of all, and then depending on whether one is a girl or a boy.