Theory of Identities

Both critical and constructivist, Theory of Identities finds fault with contemporary philosophy's reductive relation to science and its attachment to notions of singularity, difference, and multiplicity, which extends this crude approach. Laruelle's new theory of science, its objects, and philosophy introduces an original vocabulary to elaborate the concepts of determination, fractality, and artificial philosophy, among other ideas, grounded in an understanding of the renewal of identity. Laruelle's work repairs the rift between philosophical and scientific inquiry and rehabilitates the concept of identity that continental philosophers have widely criticized. His argument positions him clearly against Deleuze, Badiou, the new materialists, and other thinkers who stray too far from empirical approaches that might otherwise revitalize philosophy's practical applications.

About the author

François Laruelle is emeritus professor at the University of Paris Ouest, Nanterre La Défense (Paris X), and lectures at the Collège International de Philosophie. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Christo-Fiction: The Ruins of Athens and Jerusalem and Philosophies of Difference: A Critical Introduction to Non-philosophy, and is the director of L'Organisation Non-Philosophique Internationale.

Summary

A new theory that reconciles scientific and philosophical ideas of the self.

Report

"Laruelle offers a way to bring together philosophy and science that actually respects the practice of science. Aiming to provide a new practice of philosophy by engaging with scientific concepts in a philosophical way, Theory of Identities opens up a space for truly interdisciplinary projects to develop. Rather than paying mere lip service to interdisciplinary, Laruelle practices it here in the midst of profound reflections on identity, science, and ethics." - Anthony Paul Smith, Assistant Professor of Religion, La Salle University

Product details

• Authors: Alyosha Edlebi, Fran?ois Laruelle, Francois Laruelle, François Laruelle
• Assisted by: Alyosha Edlebi (Translation), Alyosha (Yale University) Edlebi (Translation), Edlebi Alyosha (Translation)
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2016
• EAN: 9780231168946
• ISBN: 978-0-231-16894-6
• No. of pages: 296
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; PHILOSOPHY / Epistemology, SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects, PHILOSOPHY / Methodology, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Post-Structuralism, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Deconstruction, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge, Deconstructionism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Structuralism and Post-structuralism