In this book, Geoffrey Pfeifer looks at the respective materialist philosophies of Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek in the context of the Althusserian Marxist tradition. Pfeifer argues that though both thinkers set out to respond to problems left by Althusser's Marxism, ultimately Zizek's response succeeds in ways that Badiou's does not.

Alain Badiou and Slavoj ¿i¿ek have become two of the dominant voices in contemporary philosophy and critical theory. In this book, Geoff Pfeifer offers an in-depth look at their respective views. Using Louis Althusser's materialism as a starting point-which, as Pfeifer shows, was built partially as a response to the Marxism of the Parti Communiste Français and partially in dialogue with other philosophical movements and intellectual currents of its times-the book looks at the differing ways in which both Badiou's and ¿i¿ek's work attempt to respond to issues that arise within the Althusserian edifice. Pfeifer argues here that, ultimately, ¿i¿ek's materialism succeeds in responding to these issues in ways that Badiou's does not. In building this argument, Pfeifer engages not only with the work of Althusser, Badiou, and ¿i¿ek and their intellectual backgrounds, but also with much of the contemporary scholarship surrounding these thinkers. As such, Pfeifer's book is an important addition to the ongoing debates within contemporary critical theory.