Germinal Life: The Difference and Repetition of Deleuze

Book Description

Germinal Life embarks on a fascinating tour of ethology, biology, ethics, literature and cyborgs. Opening with a linking of Richard Dawkin's theory of the extended phenotype and Deleuzian thought, Ansell Pearson introduces the idea of germinal life to challenge traditional notions of ethology and philosophy.

By revisiting nineteenth century Darwinism and the origins of germ science, Keith Ansell Pearson develops a stunning reading of Deleuze's key texts. He also introduces highly original interpretations of classic modern literature, including Thomas Hardy's Tess and D.H.Lawrence's Kangaroo before connecting these themes with cyborgism and the work of the performance artist Stelarc.

As a companion to Ansell Pearson's Viroid Life, which explored Nietzsche's philosophy of the human, Germinal Life provides a highly original study of the biophilosophical aspects of Deleuze's thought.

Download Description

The companion volume to Keith Ansell Pearson's hugely successful Viroid Life.Taking its orientation from the though of Gilles Deleuze, Germinal Life embarks on a fascinating tour of ethology, biology, ethics, literature and cyborgs.

Customer Reviews:

Toward a new biophilosophy.......2001-05-26

This is a collection of challenging and insightful essays bringing the still as yet relatively overlooked philosophical work of Deleuze & Guattari to bear on questions raised by contemporary biology, especially as it intersects so-called complexity theory. Besides a focus on population rather than individual (one of the meanings of their notorious call for "pop" philosophy), D/G also propose a "machinic" biology, one not centered on the organism as a whole in its putative connection to a similarly static environment, but one that follows multiple flows of energy and matter through the "rhizome" or interactive field that traverses what used to be seen as the whole organism, now inscribed as a mere node in that heterogenous field. Following these leads, Ansell Pearson's concern with "life" also includes questions of art, literature, and politics, endeavors which, to speak Aristotelian for a moment, were always considered the artificial from which the natural could be safely distinguished.

As itself a heterogenous "assemblage" of the type it investigates, Germinal Life sparkles with new connections and fresh insights. Few have read as widely and as well as KAP, and it shows. The author demonstrates, in addition to an easy familiarity with Deleuze and Deleuze/Guattari, a firm grasp of the classic work of Darwin and Bergson, as well as wide reading in the voluminous recent University Press literature documenting the contemporary life sciences and so-called complexity theory. For a reader with some familiarity with the basic themes of its components, plugging into the machine of Germinal Life will be a productive experience indeed.

A Renewed Philosophy of Nature.......2001-05-06

Keith Ansell-Pearson's "Germinal Life" situates itself at the nexus of three sets of concerns: Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of "difference," Bergson's philosophy of "life," and contemporary neo-evolutionary theories. Between these three themes, Ansell-Pearson weaves an intruiging web of interrelated questions and problems. Deleuze is partly responsible for the revival of interest in Bergson's writings, which had fallen into semi-obscurity in the early part of the twentieth-century. (Lévi-Strauss once commented that Bergson reduced everything to a state of mush in order to bring out its inherent ineffability.) But what is the nature of Deleuze's own "Bergsonism"? How and why does he appropriate the three primary concepts of Bergson's thought, intuition, memory, and élan vital? Most difficultly, how and in what sense can Bergson's "vitalism" be taken seriously given the developments in modern biology? Ansell-Pearson brings a wide range of resources to bear on these complex issues, all of which lie at the intersection of philosophy and biology. The book investigates the relation of Deleuze's thought to Darwin, Freud, and Nietzsche, and along the way provides helpful discussions of figures in the history of biology (Weismann, Geoffroy Saint-Hillaire), contemporary writers in the field (Gould, Dawkins, Goodwin, Margulis), as well as a number of lesser-known known figures that Deleuze himself championed (Simondon, Uexküll).

The thread that guides Ansell-Pearson throughout his research is the idea of a contemporary "bio-philosophy" or philosophy of life. This idea has far-reaching relevance. Kant is often said to have inaugurated modern philosophy with his "Copernican revolution": the conditions of the objects of knowledge must be the _same_ as the subjective conditions of knowledge itself. Against the ancient conception of wisdom, which defined the wise man by his submission to and accord with Nature, Kant set up an entirely new image of thought: humans are now the legislators of Nature. The subject, in other words, became constitutive. Ansell-Pearson's work is situated within a broader contemporary reaction against this Kantian heritage. His aim, he states, is to examine the possibility and implications of "thinking _beyond_ the human condition" (p. 2). "Germinal Life" thus continues the project of Ansell-Pearson's earlier book, "Viroid life." The latter analyzed Nietzsche's attempt to think the "transhuman" condition; the former pursues the same theme in the context of the "life sciences" (the subhuman and the superhuman). Both books, however, are framed by a fundamental ethical question: Does a biophilosophy entail a simple "disavowal" of the finitude and historicity of the human condition (p. 214)? Or on the contrary, as Ansell-Pearson argues, is it possible that a radically _ethical_ philosophy "must necessarily think trans- or overhumanly" (p. 3)? This question is all the more urgent given current developments in of informational and genetic technologies, which have already transformed our concept of the "human." In this sense, Ansell-Pearson's has opened a line of philosophical inquiry that will no doubt be of increasing importance in the future. It points to the possibility, and indeed the need, for something that largely disappeared from philosophy after Schelling, namely, a renewed philosophy of Nature.

Highly recommended.

An Excellent book on Deleuze, Bergson and Biophilosophy.......2001-05-01

Germinal Life is the sequel to Keith Ansell Pearson's well-received book on Nietzsche and biophilosophy, Viroid Life, which appeared in 1997. It is also the middle-entry in what is unfolding as a series of three books examining the work of Nietzsche, Deleuze, and Bergson, the third of which will focus on the ontological concept of the `virtual' commonly found in both Bergson and Deleuze. Like any middle-child, one might expect such a volume as this to be somewhat troublesome, possessing neither the seniority of the first in the series (and the respect that goes with that) nor the relative youth and indulgence enjoyed by the latest arrival. To switch the analogy to one with literature, the novelty of the first book in any trilogy is seldom surpassed by what follows it, while the kudos of being the final entry where everything is brought to a climax is likewise unparalleled. This usually leaves the second book an intermediary role in the most anodyne sense, that of pushing the plot forward (normally by complication) and deepening the characterisation. What is uniquely philosophical about a trilogy of philosophy books may well thwart such a structural characterisation as this (especially if it is a trilogy in name only), but there is, nonetheless, evidence for this homology in Ansell Pearson's latest work: it builds on the main them of Viroid Life, namely contemporary biophilosophy and its significance for the `transhuman condition', by intensifying its interpretation of Deleuze's vitalist metaphysics (through reading Bergson in particular), while also anticipating future research into the various political implications of such a philosophy. In other words, the characterisation of Deleuze's philosophy (already a central component in Viroid Life) is deepened and the philosophical problematic of what going beyond `the human condition' truly entails is complicated. However, where Viroid Life played with themes that are fairly intoxicating (techno-theory, nihilism, viruses), used theorists who have always had a wide appeal (Nietzsche, Lyotard, Baudrillard), and did all this in a politically engaged manner, Germinal Life is temperate and measured in its progress: it provides more of the arguments necessary to support the points introduced so spectacularly in the earlier book. This is not to say that Germinal Life is dull by comparison, but rather that it is eminently philosophical (in this sense, all genuine philosophy would have to be called dull). Indeed, what is true of Ansell Pearson's work in general is also the hallmark of Deleuze's own oeuvre: beneath the apparently `flashy' surface (as Foucault once put it) there is a well thought-out metaphysics at work (for Ansell Pearson, the end of philosophy, which is to say, the end of metaphysics, is far from being upon us). It is only that the balance has shifted in this latest work: names like Baudrillard are still there (no less than Bergson and Deleuze were present in Viroid Life), only more as a background to the hard task of philosophising. Consequently, while Germinal Life may have less appeal amongst non-philosophers in cultural studies and sociology, it cannot fail to impress philosophers interested in biology, the history of Twentieth-century French thought, and the fundamentals of Deleuze's philosophy of immanence. This type of serious, philosophical engagement with Deleuze is all the more necessary now that the reception of his work in the English-speaking world is entering its second phase and moving away from basic introductions and commentaries to the appraisal of its actual value for contemporary debates. What Germinal Life admirably demonstrates is that, firstly, Deleuze's vitalist philosophy belongs to a tradition of non-mechanistic, non-teleological, and non-reductionist thought about evolution running from Bergson to Gilbert Simonden through Jacob Von Uexküll and Raymond Ruyer: but Ansell Pearson also argues for the tenability of this oft-derided approach by examining in great detail the latest research in favour of the creativity of evolution, evidence that shows us the non-hierarchical, relatively chaotic, and molecular phenomenon which is life, far removed from the unilinear, organicist, and perfectionist model normally drawn. These ideas are articulated through three chapters (bordered by an introduction and conclusion), on the theoretical relationship between Bergson and Deleuze (Chapter One), Deleuze and Darwin(ism) (Chapter Two), and creative evolution and Deleuze's `creative ethology' (Chapter Three). Clearly, the presence of Bergson looms large in these pages, and Ansell Pearson is as scholarly and expert as ever in his exposition of his thought and its influence on Deleuze. But this book is not only about the history of thought. As the title would suggest, its primary text is Deleuze's Difference and Repetition (1968), which is both the most biological and ontological of his works: as such, it is the text that constitutes - if any one book can - the bedrock of the Deleuzian philosophy. The method of transcendental empiricism was announced in Difference and Repetition and its delineation of this method brings together most of Deleuze's central ideas, be they ontological (the univocity of being, difference as the groundless ground of repetition, etc.) empirical (Deleuze's biophilosophy itself) or metaphilosophical (the shock of the new, the image of thought, and so on). Other texts from the Deleuzian corpus are invoked by Ansell Pearson when necessary, of course, especially the Logic of Sense (1969) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980) (the latter is particularly important for the third chapter). Overall, however, this focus on one text and one theme (biophilosophy) gives Germinal Life a continuous organisation: where Viroid Life was composed of a loosely integrated set of articles that, quite fittingly, dispersed its argument through the space of its chapters, Germinal Life, no less appropriately, fosters a continuity of argument over time, a germ-line of thought rather than a zig-zag line-of-escape (to recycle some of the most popular Deleuzian jargon). I recommend it wholeheartly to all those seriously interested in Deleuze, Bergson and the Philosophy of biology.

A compelling reason for setting the Academy alight........2000-08-07

The wonderful thing about Sokal's original spoof was its demonstration that anything can be published regardless of content providing it undertakes to rehearse a series of recognisable scholastic gestures. This would appear born out in its lukewarm reception among the more conservative circles of academia -- one can only assume the precepts of caution that inform academic life could be revealed in their cynicism by similar means.

Of course, spoofs needn't be witting, which brings me to `Germinal Life'. The prodigious awfulness of Ansell Pearson's writing can't be underestimated, such as those times when its mode of presentation becomes insanely imperious, every other word is forced into scare-quotes, and paragraphs (even sentences!) follow one another without apparent connection.

I would urge you to buy it; passages such as

Deleuze himself incisively notes that as a new thinking of the living body ethology offers "a new conception of the embodied individual, of species, and of genera" (1968: 236; 1992: 257). He argues that we should not neglect the "biological significance" of this new conception. Its chief importance, however, is said to be "juridical and ethical". He suggests that once we pose the problem of rights at the level of heterogeneous bodies then we necessarily transform the whole philosophy of right(s). (p.199)

would be worth anyone's $75. The same could be said for the book's final paragraph:

We must perform our critical engagement with Deleuze not in terms of a simple condemnation or a mere repudiation, but in terms of the on-going battle we have with the problems, predicaments and pretensions of philosophy. It cannot simply be, however, a question of being for or against Deleuze; rather, the task should be one of implicating him in the critical and clinical questions that constitute the very fold of our being and our becoming those who we are. (p.224)

That Spinozan ethology is of consequence to rights and jurisprudence only to the extent that it serves to abolish them should be obvious to anyone, and if there's a programme beneath these truisms, tautologies, non sequiturs and patent misunderstandings (the final paragraph inexplicably alludes to Heidegger: `[Nietzsche,] in whose light and shadow everyone today thinks and reflects with his "for him" or "against him", heard a command which demands a preparation of man for taking over a world domination', `The Question of Being' p.107) it's to forestall the replacement of ethics by ethology, albeit solely on the strength of a pained display of bogus scholarly deliberation and diligence. For only thus will the world be made safe for those factories of statist ideology known as universities and therefore for this sort of ponderous garbage.

Average customer rating:
Germinal Life: The Difference and Repetition of Deleuze
KEITH PEARSON
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUGRXW

Book Description

The first all-inclusive text covering coordination polymerisation, including important classes of non-hydrocarbon monomers. Charting the achievements and progress in the field, in terms of both basic and industrial research, this book offers a unified and complete overview of coordination polymerisation.

Provides detailed description of the historical development of the subject
Presents a unified view of catalysis, mechanisms, structures and utility
Encourages learning through a step-by-step progression from basic to in-depth text
Features end-of-chapter exercises to reinforce understanding
Offers a full bibliography and comprehensive literature review

Requisite reading for research students studying introductory and advanced courses in; polymer science, catalysis and polymerisation catalysis, and valuable reference for researchers and technicians in industry.

Book Description

With the present issue of Topics in Current Chemistry, the fourth and final volume concluding the mini-series on dendrimer chemistry has appeared. With a focus on the interdisciplinary bridges to neighboring fields, the contributions to this volume focus on coordination, catalysis and self-assembly, nicely balanced by a synthesis-based article on dendritic oligoethers.

Proceedings of the 11th Summer School on Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis: Held in Karpacz, Poland, June 8-13, 1987

Average customer rating:

Proceedings of the 11th Summer School on Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis: Held in Karpacz, Poland, June 8-13, 1987

Manufacturer: World Scientific Pub Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 997150488X

Book Description

This book presents an operator theoretic approach to robust control analysis for linear time-varying systems. It emphasizes the conceptual similarity with the H control theory for time-invariant systems and at the same time clarifies the major difficulties confronted in the time varying case. The necessary operator theory is developed from first principles and the book is as self-contained as possible. After presenting the necessary results from the theories of Toeplitz operators and nest algebras, linear systems are defined as input- output operators and the relationship between stabilization and the existance of co-prime factorizations is described. Uniform optimal control problems are formulated as model-matching problems and are reduced to four block problems. Robustness is considered both from the point of view of fractional representations and the "time varying gap" metric, and the relationship between these types of uncertainties is clarified. The book closes with the solution of the orthogonal embedding problem for time varying contractive systems. This book will be useful to both mathematicians interested in the potential applications of operator theory in control and control engineers who wish to deal with some of the more mathematically sophisticated extension of their work.

Customer Reviews:

Feintuch's Robust Control in Hilbert Space.......2000-04-02

This book and the journal papers that preceded it launched the new era of algebraic control theory which is one of the main new trends in mathematics, engineering, and physics. Control theory is just what is sounds like: control in the intuitive sense (usually of artificial satellites, rockets, robots, but also manufacturing and chemical plants, cars, physical and biological thermoregulatory systems, etc.). The old control theory lacked simplicity, clarity, organization, and even inspiration, and was done by long calculations with little algebraic time-saving or space-saving. Bruce Francis, whom the author cites and with whom the author collaborated earlier, began the search for time- and space-saving methods, although his own monograph makes difficult reading. Feintuch's book is crystal clear, organized, and time- and space-saving. He even isolates for us his main methods: not H-infinity but nest algebras and their operator theory framework which lead to a theory of uniform optimal control and robustness for time-varying linear systems, Arveson's distance formula based on operator matrices in algebra, internal stability representing a linear system as the range of 2x1 operator matrices with causal entries and stabilization corresponds to left causal invertibility, the gap metric, factorizations including inner-outer, spectral, coprime. Block matrices turn out to be very important. Feintuch's theory is mostly in Hilbert space rather than Banach space, although he introduces Banach algebras and does some work in Banach space. Hilbert space has been found to be defective in quantum theory by A. Bohm and was "repaired" by him by adding Hilbert and Banach lattices and rigged Hilbert spaces, but it is becoming obvious that a new direction is needed both in quantum theory and control theory: Banach spaces. My own work is in this latter area. I could have used Feintuch's insights when I worked in satellites for the U.S. Defense Department. The reader unfamiliar with the mathematics can hire a consultant or tutor to translate things into approximate English, an endeavor well worth the time and effort.

Book Description

His poems evoke the past and present, the exotic and the familiar, the rich and the poor, making this selection accessible-and applicable-to just about everyone.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Evocation of Arthurian Legends.......1998-09-24

After many, many years of good intentions I finally read Tennyson's Idylls of the King. What a pleasure and delight. The poetry is impressive, and the depiction of the Round Table is epochal. I have also compared it to some of Mallory. While Mallory established the standard for the Arthurian legend (in English, at any rate), Tennyson's poetry is far more impressive. The stories themselves seem more impressive in Tennyson's sure hands. Unfortunately, I also made the mistake of watching "Camelot" on video recently; what a travesty. Guenevere is referred to as Ginny, Sir Lancelot is called Lance, and the over-all Hollywood approach is debasing and embarrassing. One could be turned off from Camelot forever as a result of this atrocious film. Let us give praise for Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. It is magnificent!

Idylls of the King & a Selection of Poem

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King & a Selection of Poem
Alfred Lor Tennyson
Manufacturer: SIGNET BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VVXS1G

Idylls of the King (And a selection of Poems)

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King (And a selection of Poems)

Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HNJZ3S

Average customer rating:

IDYLLS OF THE KING AND A SELECTION OF POEMS
TENNYSON
Manufacturer: NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SEE8VU

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems
Alfred Tennyson
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems
Alfred Tennyson
Manufacturer: A Signet Classic/ New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000MOJFNW

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems
Alfred and Baron Tennyson Tennyson
Manufacturer: Amereon House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RASUT6

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Manufacturer: Signet Classic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Selections From The Poems Of Tennyson with parts of The Idylls Of The King

Average customer rating:

Selections From The Poems Of Tennyson with parts of The Idylls Of The King
Myra (edited by) Reynolds
Manufacturer: Scott, Foresman,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K6PNF6

Average customer rating:

Idylls of the King & a Selection of Poem
Alfred Lor Tennyson
Manufacturer: SIGNET BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000PX60OM

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books