Difference and repetition by gilles deleuze waterstones. Deleuzes theory of time set out in difference and repetition is a complex structure of three different syntheses of time the passive synthesis of the living present, the passive synthesis of the pure past and the static synthesis of the future. Practical mysticism and deleuzes ontology of the virtual. English translation by paul patton, difference and repetition new york. It shows how the two concepts are related, difference implying divergence and. Difference and repetition is a critical text in that it solidly and explicitly places deleuzes philosophical project within the philosophies of difference tradition as found in the works. This article focuses on deleuzes third synthesis of time, which seems to be the most obscure part of his tripartite theory, as deleuze mixes. Deleuze wants to defend a pure concept of difference, an account of difference in itself, yet our experience is representational through and through. This brilliant exposition of the critique of identity is a classic in contemporary philosophy and one of deleuzes most important works. Deleuzes philosophical method is analyzed and positioned against the background of the intellectualreligious tradition of practical mysticism that has been traveling the globe across times, places, languages, and cultural barriers. Repetition and difference repetition is not generality. Every formula which implies their confusion is regrettable.
Deleuzes difference and repetition edinburgh university. Deleuze said of it in his letter to a harsh critic. Difference and repetition cemore lancaster university. In considering repetition in the object, we remained short of the conditions that. Both henri bergson, who strongly influenced deleuze, and deleuze himself build their. Other articles where difference and repetition is discussed.
Gilles deleuzes difference and repetition edinburgh. However, there is also almost no necessary conflict between lacan and. Originally published in france, it was translated into english by paul patton in 1994 difference and repetition was deleuzes principal thesis for the doctorat detat alongside his secondary, historical thesis, expressionism in philosophy. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Boundas, trent university philosophies of difference, where difference maintains its grounds from beginning to end without being eclipsed by identity, are exceedingly rare. Difference and repetition serves as a revaluation of the way in which the multiplicity of forces in nature are categorized and evaluated. On the other hand, youd be missing out on a period of deleuzes intense work on some of the classical figures of the. Gilles deleuze difference and repetition the topological media lab.
Successfully defended in 1969 as deleuzes main thesis toward his doctorat detat at the sorbonne, the work has been central in initiating the shift in french thought away from hegel and marx, towards nietzsche. In difference and repetition, he presented transcendental empiricism by. Since its publication in 1968, difference and repetition, an exposition of the critique of identity, has come to be considered a contemporary classic in philosophy and one of deleuzes most important works. His metaphysical treatise difference and repetition 1968 is considered by many scholars to be his magnum opus. Difference and repetition are such an alternative to the dialectic that theyre difficult to grasp without a serious grounding in metaphysics see his books on kant and hume especially, spinoza, and bergson. Repetition and generality must be distinguished in several ways. This study argues that a theory of the distinctively human individual lies latent within deleuzes readings of hume and bergson and his two major metaphysical treatises. A revised, expanded and fully uptodate critical introduction to deleuzes most important work of philosophy. The logic of sense is along with difference and repetition, probably the other major text, or major work that deleuze published in the late 60s, and its where you find a lot of the kind of. Deleuze wants to show that there is a materiality of expression that is also a. This is a readers guide to arguably deleuzes most demanding work and a key text in modern european thought. Difference and repetition is a classic work of contemporary philosophy and a key text in deleuzes oeuvre, a brilliant exposition of the. The negative or critical aspect is the argument that philosophy, in its very conception, has laboured under a transcendental illusion, which systematically subordinates the concepts of difference and repetition to that of identity, mostly within what. A delicate problem animates chapter 3 of difference and repetition.
Over lunch, christopher higgs and i talked about gilles deleuze. Deleuze claims that such definitions must presuppose what they seek to exclude. Gilles deleuze is without question one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Gilles deleuze, difference and repetition what difference does deleuzes difference make. In difference and repetition, he presented transcendental empiricism by underwriting kant with realism deleuze, 1994. Of fundamental importance to literary critics and philosophers,difference and repetition develops two central concepts. Hitherto, we have always disguised what is different into categories of sameness, a moral valuation of identity over difference that underlies all. Many of his most important questions and themes were grounded in aesthetic investigations. If exchange is the criterion of generality, theft and gift are those of repetition. When students read difference and repetition for the first time, they face two main hurdles. Since its publication in 1968, difference and repetition, an exposition of the critique of identity, has come to be considered a contemporary classic in philosophy and one of gilles deleuzes most important works. I was saying how a lot of my friendschris, blake butler, and derek white, to name a feware really into his writing, especially the ginormous book a thousand pleateaus, cowritten with felix guattari. Gilles deleuzes difference and repetition edinburgh university.
Newest deleuze questions philosophy stack exchange. This is a transcript of a 1972 conversation between the poststructuralist philosophers michel foucault and gilles deleuze, which discusses the links between the struggles of women, homosexuals, prisoners etc to class struggle, and also the relationship between theory, practice and power. Gilles deleuze one of the key figures in poststructuralism, and one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Gilles deleuze 19251995 was a french philosopher who wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. When deleuze considers objects and subjects as repeated, in relation to the first synthesis of time in difference and repetition, he makes the claim that neither an objective nor a subjective account is satisfactory for an understanding of repetition and time. Mit 026268102x adrian parr ed the deleuze dictionary. We propose to think difference in itself independently of the forms of representation which reduce it to the same, and the relation of different to different independently of those forms which make them pass through the negative. In the former he argued against the devaluation of difference in western metaphysics and tried. Repetition plays a significant, productive role in the work of both derrida and deleuze. I just finished reading eugene hollands deleuze and guattaris antioedipus.
I wouldnt start with antioedipus, for at least two reasons. What are the most interesting ideas in deleuzes book. Deleuzes historical observation that metaphysics has been misleadingly constructed around identity moves his whole philosophical project around difference. Difference and repetition is a classic work of contemporary philosophy and a key text in deleuzes oeuvre, a brilliant exposition of the critique of identity that develops two key concepts. Using critical exegesis, the study shows that deleuzes model is precise and. Difference and repetition, a brilliant exposition of the critique of identity, has come to be considered a contemporary classic in philosophy and one of deleuzes most original works. This evolving theory derives from efforts to rethink the concept of the subject in terms of difference, becoming, repetition and event. But the difference between these two philosophers couldnt be greater. Everywhere we are creatures of habit that recognize beings and therefore do not encounter difference. Difference and repetition book by deleuze britannica. In the lecture he outlined deleuzes critique of representation as found in difference and repetition, offering his own short critique at the end. This edinburgh philosophical guide helps students to negotiate these hurdles, taking them through the text paragraphy by paragraph. Difference et repetition is a 1968 book by the french philosopher gilles deleuze. When i spoke to him after the talk he told me about the terrifying.
Deleuze used the term virtual to refer to an aspect of reality that is ideal, but nonetheless real. Regarding a comment on deluze not dislocating the self. I have just typedup my somewhat haphazard notes from a lecture earlier in the year by the philosopher ray brassier, author of nihil unbound. Notes for introduction and chapter 1 of difference and repetition by deleuze. By contrast, what deleuze is after is ontological difference, or what he calls unilateral distinction, a difference in itself that acts or makes itself. It explains that deleuzes difference and repetition laid. The text follows the development of two central concepts, those of pure difference and complex repetition.
First, deleuze tells us that difference or intensity is the unequal in itself 232. I look at deleuzes basic concepts especially difference, repetition and. A revised, expanded and fully uptodate critical introduction to deleuzes most important work of philosophy by critically analysing deleuzes methods. Here is a little reading guide for learning all of deleuze. Chapter 3 of difference and repetition shows the critical side to deleuzes dialectic.
To what are we dedicated if not to those problems which demand the very transformation of our body and our language difference 241. His most popular works were the two volumes of capitalism and schizophrenia. Production, recording, and consuming in deleuzeguatarri. An example of this is the meaning, or sense, of a proposition that is not a material aspect of that proposition whether written or spoken but is nonetheless an attribute of that proposition. I think the first time i found the first two chapters mind blowing, but the rest of the book mostly escaped me. For deleuze, objects and phenomena cannot be static, or essential things, but rather are v. The essential toolkit for anyone approaching deleuze for the first time. There is, therefore, an economic difference between the two. Based on his aforementioned considerations, it is clear for deleuze that the domain of generality and repetition are not only distinguishable from the perspective of law. By critically analysing deleuzes methods, principles and arguments, james williams helps readers to engage with the revolutionary core of deleuzes philosophy and take up positions for or against its most innovative and controversial ideas. Cole using email, telephone, facetoface discussion and skype from october. Deleuzes difference and repetition is an initiatory text that, rather than putting the cogito on trial or trying to out judge the.
Ive tried to read it and get into it a few times, and kept putting the book up, scared off by not being able to. On the one hand, the books he coauthored with guattari come at a later phase of his career, and generally explore and deal with themes and topics that arise after and, occasionally, on the basis of his earlier work. Modern life is such that, confronted with the most mechanical, the most. Difference and repetition by gilles deleuze originally published in 1968 translated by paul patton columbia university press, 1994 amazon. Gilles deleuze was a french philosopher who wrote influentially about a wide variety of subjects. The book articulates a profound critique of the philosophy of representation while constructing a metaphysics of difference freed from subordination to. I will eventually be blogging or posting on deleuzes concept of self at the end of chapter 5, difference and repetition.
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