A World of Confusion: The Para-conceptual Function of the World in Badiou's Subtractive Universalism

The article argues that the idea of the world cannot be construed as a proper philosophical concept although it fulfils a specific function within philosophy: namely, it allows us to identify the point where the idea of infinity intersects with the idea of an active indetermination. Through a reading of Alain Badiou's works, the article shows that this function in effect separates the idea of the universal from the idea of totality, a disjunction upon which a new concept of the subject can be built. Politics emerges when a subject responds to something undefined – something that has no name but still calls for a new world to be created. At the same time, philosophical thought must operate within the uncertainty generated by such actions.