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An Evaluation of the Chen Jingyuan Case Based on Alain Badiou’s Philosophical Core Ideas

Alain Badiou (1937-), a French philosopher and mathematician, reconceives ontology and politics through a rigorous framework in Being and Event (1988) and Logics of Worlds (2006). His core ideas posit ontology as set theory—multiplicity without unity—interrupted by the Event: a rare, local rupture in the “situation” (given state of affairs) that names the unnameable, spawning truth-procedures (science, art, love, politics) as faithful trajectories. The subject emerges not as pre-given but as fidelity to the Event, traversing its void; politics, for Badiou, is militant fidelity to egalitarian truths, against state capitalism’s “reactive” negation. The Chen Jingyuan case—a doctoral scholar sentenced to 20 months for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (PRC Criminal Law Article 293) over Twitter forwards—through Badiou’s lens, exemplifies a state situation’s foreclosure of the Event: Chen’s inquiry names the unnameable (suppressed flux), yet judicial negation suppresses fidelity, reducing the subject to reactive “disruption” and betraying politics’ truth-potential.

1. The Event and Naming the Unnameable: Chen’s Inquiry as Rupture Foreclosed by State Situation

Badiou’s Event irrupts as a supplement to the situation, naming its void—e.g., equality amid inequality—demanding fidelity to traverse its consequences.

Chen’s forwards (e.g., Hayek critiques or the “Trump-kneeling Xi” cartoon) eventally name the unnameable: the void of “order” in a censored flux, rupturing the situation’s presented multiplicity (millions unpunished shares) with the unpresentable (critical inquiry). The prison letter sustains this—taxonomy (art/emotion/reason/fact) and avalanche theory traverse the void, naming non-causal equality. Yet the verdict forecloses: “high education implies discernment” encases the Event in reactive presentation, the closed-door trial voiding its traversal. Badiou would diagnose state capture: the prosecutor’s unverified admission traces the Event’s trace, but suppression (non-oral appeal) re-presents “disruption,” betraying fidelity’s militant line.

2. Fidelity and the Subject: Judicial Negation as Suppression of Truth-Trajectory

The subject forms through fidelity—persistent adherence to the Event’s truth-procedure—opposing the state’s “encyclopedic” situation that simulates universality.

Chen subjects himself to fidelity: his letter’s procedure (political naming of “rumor” equality) traverses the void, as the dormant account sustains the line amid 20 months’ negation. The judiciary, however, reactive: Article 293’s “picking quarrels” simulates universal “order,” suppressing the trajectory—selective enforcement (millions unpunished) exposes the simulation’s simulacrum. Badiou would see ethical void: the “shut up” directive interrupts fidelity, reducing Chen to state-presented “object,” as in Logics of Worlds—truth’s appearance denied, subjecthood fractures. Anomalies like evidentiary voids (zero ripple) trace the suppressed procedure, demanding militant resumption.

3. Politics as Egalitarian Truth: The Case as State Capitalism’s Reactive Simulation

Badiou’s politics names egalitarian Events against capitalism’s “passion for profit,” where state apparatuses reactive-ize truths.

The sentence reactive-izes the Event: “disorder” simulates profit in “stability,” as the non-oral appeal encases inquiry in state logic. Yet Chen’s taxonomy egalitarian-izes “rumor”—artistic flux as universal—countering simulation. Badiou would affirm potential: the case’s fissures (prosecutor’s admission) prefigure militant politics, fidelity’s line piercing reactive veil.

Conclusion: Badiou’s Lens on the Case—A Foreclosed Event Yearning for Fidelity

From Alain Badiou’s evental ontology, the Chen Jingyuan case is a foreclosed rupture: named void negated, fidelity suppressed, and egalitarian politics simulated in reactive stasis. As of October 24, 2025, no retrial or exoneration has occurred; Chen’s account remains dormant, its quiet a faithful trace. This case cautions: Events demand traversal—foreclose them, and the situation rots. As Badiou proclaimed, “Truth is militant”—may Chen’s line yet march.