Mathematics, the Ontology of Nothingness

Alain Badiou, the French famous contemporary philosopher, considers ontology as identical with mathematics. He speaks about a kind of ontology entitled subtractive ontology which is based on pure multiplicity from which the one is subtracted. The fundamental claim of this ontology pertains to the mathematics of ontology. According to Badiou, this idea can be explained only by set theory. Within this ontological bed no reference is made to the meaning of being, nor sought to answer the question: “what is the nature of beings, as they are?” Instead, just like some great philosophers such as Leibnitz and Heidegger, in his philosophical struggle, he put the following question as his watchword: "why there are beings, instead of nonbeings?”. Undoubtedly, raising such question indicates the importance of nothingness in Badiou’s outlook. In this line, as void set plays a very important role in the set theory, nothingness is also important in subtractive ontology. In this paper, an attempt is made to study the notion of nothingness in Badiou’s ontology and highlight the importance of using mathematics to describe nothingness in this sort of ontology.