The René Descartes Chair at the European Graduate School (EGS) is held by Alain Badiou, who was born in Rabat, Morocco in 1937. It was in the 1950s that Alain Badiou was a student at the ýcole Normale Supôrieure. 

From 1969 to 1999, he was a professor at the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes-Saint Denis). Once again, in 1999, he was the chair of the philosophy department at ENS. 

He keeps teaching a popular class at the Collège International de Philosophie, covering subjects like the great “antiphilosophers” (Saint-Paul,, ) and the significant conceptual breakthroughs of the 20th century. 

The aftermath of the Paris uprising in May 1968 has impacted Badiou’s life significantly. Along with Sylvain Lazarus and Natacha Michel, he has been a prominent figure in L’Organisation Politique for a long time. 

This post-party group aims to involve the public directly in various issues, such as immigration, labor, and housing, and he was formerly a leading member of the Union des jeunesses communistes de France (marxistes-léninistes). 

Aside from penning over a dozen philosophical works, he has also written numerous critically acclaimed novels and plays.