French Literature Reviews - 2026

S. Žižek, In Defense of Lost Causes
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

In Defense of Lost Causes
By Slavoj Žižek
Translated by Daniel Bismuth

Published: February 29, 2012
Publisher: Flammarion
Series: La bibliothèque des savoirs
ISBN: 978-2-08-121504-7
EAN: 9782081215047
No. of pages: 375 pages

Publisher's price: 26.00€

True ideas are eternal, and what should have been dead and buried—what has been thoroughly discredited—makes a forceful comeback.

Because the ecological, economic, and cybernetic threats now looming over us present a unique opportunity to reaffirm certain lessons thought to have been swallowed up in the bloodshed of history. For the first time, Žižek outlines concrete political paths grounded in voluntarism, strictly egalitarian justice, and trust in the people—in short, a "reinvented version of the dictatorship of the proletariat."

Starting with a defense of thinkers whom the "philosophical police" have deemed anti-democratic—Plato and his "philosopher king," Nietzsche and his "will to power," Heidegger tempted by National Socialism, and Foucault enthused by the Iranian Revolution—Žižek then flips perspectives: he dissects their deviations as so many "good steps in the wrong direction," revealing to us in a new light the "emancipatory potential of past failures."

He then scrutinizes three contemporary issues: the concept of the multitude forged by Hardt and Negri, Badiouan subtraction, and, above all, "discontent in nature." In this combative new opus, Žižek seeks out the core of truth in purportedly lost causes and engages in a genuine act of faith.

Table of Contents:

ON A RAZOR'S EDGE

Radical Intellectuals, or Why Heidegger Started Off on the Right Foot in 1933
Stalinism Revisited, or How Stalin Saved Man from Humanity

THE CRISIS OF DETERMINATE NEGATION

Power and Resistance
The Violence of Subtraction

DISCONTENT IN NATURE

Ecology Without Nature
The Uses and Abuses of Heidegger
The Paths of the Act

* * *

This work situates itself within contemporary political philosophy and radical critique, engaging with a long tradition of European thought that re-examines the legacy of revolutionary movements, state power, and ideological commitment. The text addresses figures such as Plato, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Foucault, alongside contemporary theoretical frameworks like those associated with Hardt and Negri or Alain Badiou. By revisiting these thinkers, the volume touches upon enduring debates regarding political voluntarism, egalitarian justice, and the philosophical implications of historical crises, bridging classical political theory with modern ideological dilemmas, while remaining grounded in the themes outlined in the published materials.

The pages outline a series of arguments concerning ecological threats, economic pressures, and political resistance, questioning standard interpretations of historical failures and intellectual deviations. Readers interested in contemporary political theory and radical intellectual history may find this translation relevant to their inquiries. The discussion moves from historical re-evaluations to present-day conceptual problems, addressing the relationship between human societies and the natural world within a critical framework that evaluates lost causes and political paths.