Difference and Repetition - (European Perspectives: A Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) by Gilles Deleuze (Hardcover)

About the Book

Of fundamental importance to literary critics and philosophers, "Difference and Repetition" develops two central concepts -- pure difference and complex repetition -- and shows how the two concepts are related. Central in initiating the shift in French thought away from Hegel and Marx toward Nietzsche and Freud, "Difference and Repetition" moves deftly to establish a fundamental critique of Western metaphysics.

Book Synopsis

This brilliant exposition of the critique of identity is a classic in contemporary philosophy and one of Deleuze's most important works. Of fundamental importance to literary critics and philosophers, Difference and Repetition develops two central concepts--pure difference and complex repetition--and shows how the two concepts are related. While difference implies divergence and decentering, repetition is associated with displacement and disguising. Central in initiating the shift in French thought away from Hegel and Marx toward Nietzsche and Freud, Difference and Repetition moves deftly to establish a fundamental critique of Western metaphysics.

From the Back Cover

Difference and Repetition, a brilliant exposition of the critique of identity, has come to be considered a contemporary classic in philosophy and one of Deleuze's most original works. Successfully defended in 1969 as Deleuze's main thesis toward his Doctorat d'Etat at the Sorbonne, the work has been central in initiating the shift in French thought away from Hegel and Marx, towards Nietzsche and Freud. The text follows the development of two central concepts, those of pure difference and complex repetition. It shows how the two concepts are related - difference implying divergence and decentering, and repetition implying displacement and disguising. In its explication the work moves deftly between Hegel, Kierkegaard, Freud, Althusser, and Nietzsche to establish a fundamental critique of Western metaphysics. Difference and Repetition has become essential to the work of literary critics and philosophers alike, and this translation his been long awaited.

Review Quotes

This is a long-overdue, and skillful, translation of one of Deleuzes most important and original works...It occupies an important place in Deleuzes oeuvre as the first text, following a series of historical commentaries, in which he philosophizes on his own behalf. It occupies an equally important place in the evolution of French philosophy in the 20th century, as it articulates a profound critique of the philosophy of representation while constructing a metaphysics of difference freed from subordination to a logic of identity. While charting the development through the history of philosophy of the concepts of ' pure difference and ' complex repetition, Deleuze proposes a new image of thought, which readers familiar with his later works will recognize. A difficult and challenging text that has done as much as any to initiate the philosophy of difference that characterizes much recent French thought, this book is one of the classics of recent European philosophy.

About the Author

Gilles Deleuze, one of France's leading philosophers, was Profesor of Philosophy at the University de Paris VIII until his retirement in 1987. His other works include What is Philosophy? andThe Logic of Sense, both published by Columbia University Press.