DOI:10.1111/j.1741-2005.2009.01297.x Discerning Fidelity: Badiou between Faith and Reason Geoffrey Holsclaw Abstract At this juncture in history, viewed as either the dusk of modernity or the dawn of its overcoming, questions of faith and reason are contin- ually cast up anew. The questioning of faith and reason raise familiar binaries and oppositions: Is faith for or against, internal or external, before or after, above or below reason? Does faith perfect or over- come, complete or destroy, add or subtract from reason? This essay will pass through two figures representative of the contested field of Thomistic scholarship en route to a discussion of how the French philosopher Alain Badiou might intervene within the contemporary discussions of faith and reason. It will first engage Denys Turner’s recent work which could be characterized as a dogmatic faith in rea- son attempting to repel the dispositional faith which he attributes to Fergus Kerr. These competing conceptions of faith will set the back- drop for a presentation and application of Badiou’s understanding of faith as discerning fidelity. Keywords Faith, Reason, Alain Badiou, Philosophy, Fidelity At this juncture in history, viewed as either the dusk of modernity or the dawn of its overcoming, questions of faith and reason are continually cast up anew. The questioning of faith and reason raise familiar binaries and oppositions: Is faith for or against, internal or external, before or after, above or below reason? Does faith perfect or overcome, complete or destroy, add or subtract from reason? Is faith subjective or objective in relation to reason? And as in the past transition from the medieval to the modern era, so also in the current transition out of modernity, Thomas Aquinas has become a contested figure in the debate between faith and reason. We will not, however, enter into the contested waters of Thomistic scholarship, but will rather pass through two figures representative of the field en route to a discussion of how the French philosopher Alain Badiou might C  The author 2009. Journal compilation C  The Dominican Council/Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, and 350 Main Street, Malden MA 02148, USA