Irigaray & Deleuze - by Tamsin Lorraine (Paperback)

About the Book

For Tamsin Lorraine, the works of Luce Irigaray and Gilles Deleuze open up new ways of thinking about subjectivity. Focusing on the affinities between the theorists' views--while addressing weaknesses of each--she offers both a cogent analysis of their...

Book Synopsis

For Tamsin Lorraine, the works of Luce Irigaray and Gilles Deleuze open up new ways of thinking about subjectivity. Focusing on the affinities between the theorists' views--while addressing weaknesses of each--she offers both a cogent analysis of their often challenging writings on this topic and an accessible introduction to their philosophical projects. Through her readings she articulates an approach to subjectivity as an embodied, dynamic process, one that speaks to beliefs about personal identity as well as to the practical problems people face in their relations with one another.Lorraine begins by distinguishing between "conceptual" and "corporeal" considerations of subjectivity and by reviewing recent interdisciplinary efforts to theorize the body. She then turns to Irigaray and Deleuze, finding in the former's notion of the "feminine other" and in the latter's, unique conceptions of nomadic thinking inspiration for a model designed to overcome mind/body dualisms. Her analysis of Irigaray and Deleuze suggests a conception of humanity which amounts to a visceral philosophy--a way of thinking that is receptive to the fluxes of dynamic life forces.

Review Quotes

In her latest book, Irigaray and Deleuze: Experiments in Visceral Philosophy, Tamsin Lorraine... makes the work of Irigaray and Deleuze accessible and applicable to contemporary social problems... By explaining their terminology in accessible ways with practical applications for social life, Lorraine's book does what no other book does as well: it makes the work of Irigaray and Deleuze meaningful for our everyday lives... This book is an important contribution to the scholarship on these figures as well as a powerful intervention into critiques of the mind/body problem in philosophy and feminist theory. Her clear style and attention to everyday concerns make this book a pleasure to read.

Lorraine has here produced a very clear and readable discussion of the work of Luce Irigaray and Gilles Deleuze... Her writing is straightforward and direct, and her analyses... are clearly argued....Lorraine opens up some interesting possibilities.

What is still needed is a more thorough working through of Irigaray's political, ethical, and epistemological message. Lorraine's book, as clearly writtten as it is courageous, is a contribution to the process. Not only does it tell us what we can learn from Irigaray, but it encourages us to follow her message....Her text continuously invites its readers to consider not only their own philosophical standpoints, but also their motives for having them.

About the Author

Tamsin Lorraine is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Swarthmore College. She is the author of Gender, Identity, and the Production of Meaning.