Spinoza contra phenomenology : French rationalism from Cavaillès to Deleuze / Knox Peden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peden, Knox, author.

Series:

Cultural memory in the present

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677.

Philosophy, French--20th century.

Philosophy, French.

Rationalism.

Phenomenology.

Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677--Influence.

Spinoza, Benedictus de.

Physical Description:

xiv, 357 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Spinoza Contra Phenomenology fundamentally recasts the history of postwar French thought, typically presumed to have been driven by a critique of reason indebted to Nietzsche and Heidegger. Although the reception of phenomenology gave rise to many innovative developments in French philosophy, from existentialism to deconstruction, not everyone in France was pleased with this German import. This book recounts how a series of French philosophers used Spinoza to erect a bulwark against the nominally irrationalist tendencies of phenomenology. From its beginnings in the interwar years, this rationalism would prove foundational for Althusser's rethinking of Marxism and Deleuze's ambitious metaphysics. There has been a renewed enthusiasm for Spinozism of late by those who see it as a kind of neo-vitalism or philosophy of life and affect. Peden counters this trend by tracking a decisive and neglected aspect of Spinoza;s philosophy-his rationalism-in a body of thought too often presumed to have rejected reason. In the process, he demonstrates that the virtues of Spinoza's rationalism have yet to be exhausted. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction : Spinozism : a source of enthusiasm

From consciousness to the concept : the Spinozism of Jean Cavaillès

Spinoza contra Descartes : Martial Gueroult versus Ferdinand Alquié

From Stalinism to asceticism : Jean-Toussaint Desanti between Spinoza and Husserl

Recuperating science : the sources of Louis Althusser's Spinozism

Redefining philosophy : the development of Louis Althusser's Spinozism

Toward a science of the singular : Gilles Deleuze between Heidegger and Spinoza

Nothing is possible : the strange Spinozism of Gilles Deleuze

Conclusion : the sense of Spinozism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-339) and index.

ISBN:

9780804787413

0804787417

9780804791342

0804791341

OCLC:

865536984