Force of the Virtual: Deleuze, Science, and Philosophy

by PeterGaffney (Editor)

• New

  Paperback
  2010

  $36.84

  Gilles Deleuze once claimed that \u201cmodern science has not found its metaphysics, the metaphysics it needs.\u201d The Force of the Virtual responds to this need by investigating the consequences of the philosopher\u2019s interest in (and appeal to) \u201cthe exact sciences.\u201d In exploring the problematic relationship between the philosophy of Deleuze and science, the original essays gathered here examine how science functions in respect to Deleuze\u2019s concepts of time and space, how science accounts for processes of qualitative change, how science actively participates in the production of subjectivity, and how Deleuze\u2019s thinking engages neuroscience. All of the essays work through Deleuze\u2019s understanding of the virtual-a force of qualitative change that is ontologically primary to the exact, measurable relations that can be found in and among the objects of science. By adopting such a methodology, this collection generates significant new insights, especially regarding the notion of scientific laws, and compels the rethinking of such ideas as reproducibility, the unity of science, and the scientific observer. Contributors: Manola Antonioli, Coll\u00e8ge International de Philosophie (Paris); Clark Bailey; Rosi Braidotti, Utrecht U; Manuel DeLanda, U of Pennsylvania; Aden Evens, Dartmouth U; Gregory Flaxman, U of North Carolina; Thomas Kelso; Andrew Murphie, U of New South Wales; Patricia Pisters, U of Amsterdam; Arkady Plotnitsky, Purdue U; Steven Shaviro, Wayne State U; Arnaud Villani, Premi\u00e8re Sup\u00e9rieure au Lyc\u00e9e Mass\u00e9na de Nice.