Read through the lens of a single key concept in twentieth-century French philosophy, that of the "problem", this book relates the concept to specific thinkers and situates it in relation both to the wider history of philosophy and contemporary concerns. How exactly should the notion of problems be understood? What must a problem be in order to play an inaugurating role in thought? Does the word "problem" have a univocal sense? What is at stake - theoretically, ethically, politically, and institutionally - when philosophers use the word? This book addresses these and other questions, and is devoted to making historical and philosophical sense of the various uses and conceptualisations of notions of problems, problematics, and problematisations in twentieth-century French thought. In the process, it augments our understanding of the philosophical programs of a number of recent French thinkers, reconfigures our perception of the history and wider stakes of twentieth-century French philosophy, and reveals the ongoing theoretical richness and critical potential of the notion of the problem and its cognates. Working through the twentieth-century, and focussing on specific thinkers including Foucault and Deleuze, this book will be of interest to all scholars of French philosophy. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki.

This collection brings together the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and the rich tradition of American pragmatist thought, taking seriously the commitment to pluralism at the heart of both. Contributors explore in novel ways Deleuze's explicit references to pragmatism, and examine the philosophical significance of a number of points at which Deleuze's philosophy converges with, or diverges from, the work of leading pragmatists. The papers of the first part of the volume take as their focus Deleuze's philosophical relationship to classical pragmatism and the work of Peirce, James and Dewey. Particular areas of focus include theories of signs, metaphysics, perspectivism, experience, the transcendental and democracy. The papers comprising the second half of the volume are concerned with developing critical encounters between Deleuze's work and the work of contemporary pragmatists such as Rorty, Brandom, Price, Shusterman and others. Issues addressed include antirepresentationalism, constructivism, politics, objectivity, naturalism, affect, human finitude and the nature and value of philosophy itself. With contributions by internationally recognized specialists in both poststructuralist and pragmatist thought, the collection is certain to enrich Deleuze scholarship, enliven discussion in pragmatist circles, and contribute in significant ways to contemporary philosophical debate.

This collection brings together the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and the rich tradition of American pragmatist thought, taking seriously the commitment to pluralism at the heart of both. Contributors explore in novel ways Deleuze s explicit references to pragmatism, and examine the philosophical significance of a number of points at which Deleuze s philosophy converges with, or diverges from, the work of leading pragmatists. The papers of the first part of the volume take as their focus Deleuze s philosophical relationship to classical pragmatism and the work of Peirce, James and Dewey. Particular areas of focus include theories of signs, metaphysics, perspectivism, experience, the transcendental and democracy. The papers comprising the second half of the volume are concerned with developing critical encounters between Deleuze s work and the work of contemporary pragmatists such as Rorty, Brandom, Price, Shusterman and others. Issues addressed include antirepresentationalism, constructivism, politics, objectivity, naturalism, affect, human finitude and the nature and value of philosophy itself. With contributions by internationally recognized specialists in both poststructuralist and pragmatist thought, the collection is certain to enrich Deleuze scholarship, enliven discussion in pragmatist circles, and contribute in significant ways to contemporary philosophical debate."

Read through the lens of a single key concept in twentieth-century French philosophy, that of the "problem", this book relates the concept to specific thinkers and situates it in relation both to the wider history of philosophy and contemporary concerns. How exactly should the notion of problems be understood? What must a problem be in order to play an inaugurating role in thought? Does the word "problem" have a univocal sense? What is at stake - theoretically, ethically, politically, and institutionally - when philosophers use the word? This book addresses these and other questions, and is devoted to making historical and philosophical sense of the various uses and conceptualisations of notions of problems, problematics, and problematisations in twentieth-century French thought. In the process, it augments our understanding of the philosophical programs of a number of recent French thinkers, reconfigures our perception of the history and wider stakes of twentieth-century French philosophy, and reveals the ongoing theoretical richness and critical potential of the notion of the problem and its cognates. Working through the twentieth-century, and focussing on specific thinkers including Foucault and Deleuze, this book will be of interest to all scholars of French philosophy. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki.

Sean Bowden shows you how the Deleuzian event should be understood in terms of the broader metaphysical thesis that fixed things or substances are always secondary with respect to events. He achieves this through a reconstruction of Deleuze's relation to the history of thought from the Stoics through to Simondon, taking account of Leibniz, Lautman, structuralism and psychoanalysis along the way. Key features: * Focuses on Deleuze's concept of events and highlights the philosophical richness of The Logic of Sense * Engages with material by Lautman and Simondon that has not yet been translated into English * Examines and clarifies a number of Deleuze's most difficult philosophical concepts, including sense, problematic Ideas and intensive individuation

This title presents a range of critical engagements with the work of Alain Badiou. This collection of 13 essays directly addresses the work of Alain Badiou, focusing specifically on the philosophical content of his work and the various connections he established with both his contemporaries and his philosophical heritage. This is the first reassessment of Badiou's work since the publication of the English translation of Logics of Worlds, (2009). It critiques how Badiou sources and responds to existing philosophical arguments and traditions as well as the arguments he employs to do so. It examines Badiou's work through the lens of a number of thinkers and themes, from Cantor and category/topos theory, through Lacan and Lautman, to Sartre and subject.

An incisive analysis of Deleuze's philosophy of eventsSean Bowden shows how the Deleuzian event should be understood in terms of the broader metaphysical thesis that substances are ontologically secondary with respect to events. He achieves this through a reconstruction of Deleuze's relation to the history of thought from the Stoics through to Simondon, taking account of Leibniz, Lautman, structuralism and psychoanalysis along the way.This exciting new reading of Deleuze focuses firmly on his approach to events. Bowden also examines and clarifies a number of Deleuze's most difficult philosophical concepts, including sense, problematic Ideas and intensive individuation, and engages with material by Lautman and Simondon that has not yet been translated into English.

Examining the core concepts of Deleuze and the surrounding literature, this Deleuze Studies Special Issue problematizes our ordinary understanding of the sense and status of the concepts of the virtual, the actual and the intensive. As Deleuze scholars, or as philosophers seeking to apply his philosophical insights in various domains, we sometimes speak and write as though Deleuze's concepts were well understood. When we examine the literature, however, we find a surprising lack of consensus regarding the sense of his core concepts, even those as central as the virtual, the actual and the intensive. To take the concept of intensity as a significant example, commentators seem to be divided as to: whether the intensive is virtual in nature or whether it constitutes a third ontological realm; the proximity of the philosophical conception of intensity to the scientific one; the philosophical work which this concept is tasked with at different points in Deleuze's oeuvre; and who the key thinkers are without whom Deleuze would not have been able to articulate his conception(s) of intensity. It is with an eye to these discordances that the present special issue has been assembled. We have not proposed to resolve them. Quite the contrary, we have wished to emphasize them. Each of the authors contributing to this special issue thus problematize in novel ways our ordinary understanding of the sense and status of the concepts of the virtual, the actual and the intensive, and collectively open up a problematic space in which we might think them anew. Key Features Examines the discordances of the literature about Deleuze's central concepts, such as the virtual, the actual and the intensive. Aims to emphasis, not resolve, the discordances, providing fresh discussions revolving around Deleuze's insights. Combines writings from seven subject experts.