Gilles Deleuze's Logic of Sense: A Critical Introduction and Guide

by James Williams

This book offers the first critical study of The Logic of Sense, Gilles Deleuze’s most important work on language and ethics, as well as the main source for his vital philosophy of the event. Deleuze’s philosophy has always promised a revolution in ethical theories and in our understanding of the relation between language, thought and action. This book develops a critical reading of Deleuze’s work in order to convey the potential and risks of his new approaches to questions of how to live an intense life in response to the excitement and danger of events. This interpretation covers all aspects of Deleuze’s book, including engagements with phenomenology, with analytic philosophy of language, with stoicism, with literary theory and with psychoanalysis. Its aim is to open new debates and develop current ones around Deleuze’s work in philosophy, politics, literature, linguistics and sociology.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2008

Reviews

[B.D.N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

We'll give this a shot... I'm doing an independent study on this material, so it'll be interesting to see if Williams corresponds to our understanding of Deleuze here. I was admittedly not a fan of his intro to Difference and Repetition– I'm not a fan of the "critical introduction" as a useful entry point for beginners, as I felt his criticisms just caused tension in the understanding of the reader. I think combining the critique with the intro is just going to hurt both aims reciprocally. Also, I don't think Williams understands the virtual, which he seems to collapse into pure intensity which isn't quite right for me. So far, this one has seemed better though.

Update:
Yes! This was quite good. I much prefer Williams reading of the Logic of Sense to his reading of Difference and Repetition. I'd recommend this one!