Philosophy is not an abstract discourse, detached from life. Its ultimate function aims at the arrival of "true happiness," which Badiou directly contrasts with superficial happiness that is identified with conformist standards of well-being and selfish satisfaction.
To meet this practical goal, philosophy is constituted as the "logic of revolt." A revolt against the claims of primacy of unfounded opinions and the dominant rules that shrink the field of the possible in the existing. However, this revolt is not blind, but rationally oriented towards the realization of collective and universal happiness through the assumption of the risks demanded by the circumstances. Revolt, logic, universality, and daring constitute the desire that directs the philosophical quest for true happiness, beyond the satisfaction of natural and commonplace needs - hence the title: Meta-physical...