Gilbert Simondon
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Simondon was a French
philosopher best known for his theory of individuation
, a major source of inspiration for Gilles Deleuze
and Bernard Stiegler
.
, Simondon was a student of philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem
, Martial Guéroult
, and phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty
. He studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
and the Sorbonne
. He defended his doctoral dissertations in 1958. His main thesis, L'individuation à la lumière des notions de Forme et d'Information (Individuation in the light of the notions of Form and Information), was published in two parts, the first in 1964 under the title L'individu et sa génèse physico-biologique (Individuation and its physical-biological genesis) at the Presses Universitaires de France, while it is only in 1989 that Aubier published the second part, L'individuation psychique et collective (Psychic and collective individuation). While his main thesis, which laid the foundations of his thinking, was not widely read until it was commented upon by Gilles Deleuze
and, more recently, Bruno Latour
and Bernard Stiegler
, his complementary thesis, Du mode d'existence des objets techniques (On the mode of existence of technical objects) was published by Aubier immediately after being completed (in 1958) and had an instant impact on a wide audience. It was only in 2005 that Jérôme Millon published a complete edition of the main thesis.
, in which the individual subject
is considered as an effect of individuation, rather than as a cause. Thus the individual atom is replaced by the neverending process of individuation. Simondon also conceived of "pre-individual fields" as the funds making individuation itself possible. Individuation is an always incomplete process, always leaving a "pre-individual" left-over, itself making possible future individuations. Furthermore, individuation always creates both an individual and a collective subject, which individuate themselves together.
Gilbert Simondon criticized Norbert Wiener's
theory of cybernetics
, arguing that, "Right from the start, Cybernetics has accepted what all theory of technology must refuse: a classification of technological objects conducted by means of established criteria and following genera and species." Simondon aimed to overcome the shortcomings of cybernetics by developing a "general phenomenology" of machines.
through transduction
in a metastable environment was the most important influence on the thought of Gilles Deleuze
. Deleuze recognized it in Logique du sens, and this major influence is explained by Alberto Gualandi in his book Deleuze (Paris, Editions Perrin, 2009), and developed by Anne Sauvagnargues in her recent Deleuze. L'empirisme transcendental (Paris, P.U.F., 2009).
Simondon's work has also been adopted by Bernard Stiegler
, who places the theory of individuation at the very heart of his philosophical project. Stiegler nevertheless argues that, paradoxically, Simondon failed to think the constitutive role that technical individuation plays in psychic and collective individuation.
Posthumous publications
English translations
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
philosopher best known for his theory of individuation
Individuation
Individuation is a concept which appears in numerous fields and may be encountered in work by Arthur Schopenhauer, Carl Jung, Gilbert Simondon, Bernard Stiegler, Gilles Deleuze, Henri Bergson, David Bohm, and Manuel De Landa...
, a major source of inspiration for Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
and Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
.
Career
Born in Saint-ÉtienneSaint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
, Simondon was a student of philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem
Georges Canguilhem
Georges Canguilhem was a French philosopher and physician who specialized in epistemology and the philosophy of science .-Life and work:...
, Martial Guéroult
Martial Guéroult
Martial Guéroult was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy, specialized in 17th century philosophy. His work was characterized by a close attention to history of philosophy, which he considered as noble as philosophy itself, and a strong demand for systematicity...
, and phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Karl Marx, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger in addition to being closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir...
. He studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
and the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. He defended his doctoral dissertations in 1958. His main thesis, L'individuation à la lumière des notions de Forme et d'Information (Individuation in the light of the notions of Form and Information), was published in two parts, the first in 1964 under the title L'individu et sa génèse physico-biologique (Individuation and its physical-biological genesis) at the Presses Universitaires de France, while it is only in 1989 that Aubier published the second part, L'individuation psychique et collective (Psychic and collective individuation). While his main thesis, which laid the foundations of his thinking, was not widely read until it was commented upon by Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
and, more recently, Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour is a French sociologist of science and anthropologist and an influential theorist in the field of Science and Technology Studies...
and Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
, his complementary thesis, Du mode d'existence des objets techniques (On the mode of existence of technical objects) was published by Aubier immediately after being completed (in 1958) and had an instant impact on a wide audience. It was only in 2005 that Jérôme Millon published a complete edition of the main thesis.
Individuation and technology
In L'individuation psychique et collective, Simondon developed a theory of individual and collective individuationIndividuation
Individuation is a concept which appears in numerous fields and may be encountered in work by Arthur Schopenhauer, Carl Jung, Gilbert Simondon, Bernard Stiegler, Gilles Deleuze, Henri Bergson, David Bohm, and Manuel De Landa...
, in which the individual subject
Subject (philosophy)
In philosophy, a subject is a being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness or a relationship with another entity . A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed...
is considered as an effect of individuation, rather than as a cause. Thus the individual atom is replaced by the neverending process of individuation. Simondon also conceived of "pre-individual fields" as the funds making individuation itself possible. Individuation is an always incomplete process, always leaving a "pre-individual" left-over, itself making possible future individuations. Furthermore, individuation always creates both an individual and a collective subject, which individuate themselves together.
Gilbert Simondon criticized Norbert Wiener's
Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician.A famous child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.Wiener is regarded as the originator of cybernetics, a...
theory of cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
, arguing that, "Right from the start, Cybernetics has accepted what all theory of technology must refuse: a classification of technological objects conducted by means of established criteria and following genera and species." Simondon aimed to overcome the shortcomings of cybernetics by developing a "general phenomenology" of machines.
Influence
Simondon's theory of individuationIndividuation
Individuation is a concept which appears in numerous fields and may be encountered in work by Arthur Schopenhauer, Carl Jung, Gilbert Simondon, Bernard Stiegler, Gilles Deleuze, Henri Bergson, David Bohm, and Manuel De Landa...
through transduction
Transduction
Transduction is a mechanism whereby genetic material may be transferred from the genes of a bacterium to another bacterium. This may include the actual covalent-bonding of new genetic markers...
in a metastable environment was the most important influence on the thought of Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
. Deleuze recognized it in Logique du sens, and this major influence is explained by Alberto Gualandi in his book Deleuze (Paris, Editions Perrin, 2009), and developed by Anne Sauvagnargues in her recent Deleuze. L'empirisme transcendental (Paris, P.U.F., 2009).
Simondon's work has also been adopted by Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
, who places the theory of individuation at the very heart of his philosophical project. Stiegler nevertheless argues that, paradoxically, Simondon failed to think the constitutive role that technical individuation plays in psychic and collective individuation.
Primary literature
- Du mode d'existence des objets techniques (Méot, 1958; second ed. Paris: Aubier, 1989).
- L'individu et sa genèse physico-biologique (l'individuation à la lumière des notions de forme et d'information) (Paris: PUFUniversity Presses of FrancePresses Universitaires de France or PUF , founded in 1921 by Paul Angoulvent , is the largest French university publishing house....
, 1964; second ed. J.Millon, coll. Krisis, 1995). - L'individuation psychique et collective (Paris, Aubier, 1989; reprinted in 2007 with a preface by Bernard Stiegler).
Posthumous publications
- L’Invention dans les techniques, Cours et conferences (Éd. du Seuil, coll. "Traces écrites").
- L’Individuation à la lumière des notions de forme et d’information (Jérôme Millon, coll. Krisis).
- Cours sur la perception (1964–1965), Préface de Renaud Barbaras (Editions de La Tansparence).
- Imagination et invention (1965–1966) (Editions de La Transparence, 2008)
- Communication et Information. Cours et Conférences (Éditions de La Transparence, 2010).
English translations
- "The Position of the Problem of Ontogenesis," trans. Gregory Flanders, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 4-16. Parrhesia 7 (2009): 4-16.
- "Technical Mentality," trans. Arne De Boever, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 7-27.
- "The Genesis of the Individual," in Jonathan Crary & Sanford Kwinter (eds.), Incorporations (New York: Zone Books, 1992): 297–319.
- "Technical Individualization," in Joke Brouwer & Arjen Mulder (eds.), Interact or Die! (Rotterdam: NAi, 2007).
Secondary literature
- Giovanni Carrozzini, "Gilbert Simondon filosofo della mentalité technique", Mimesis, Milano 2011.
- Bardin, Andrea, Epistemologia e politica in Gilbert Simondon. Individuazione, tecnica e sistemi sociali (FuoriRegistro, 2010), 426 p. pdf download - Creative Commons.
- Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues (dir.), Cahiers Simondon - Numéro 3 (Paris, L'Harmattan, 2011).
- Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues (dir.), Cahiers Simondon - Numéro 2 (Paris, L'Harmattan, 2010).
- Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, "Du mort qui saisit le vif. Simondonian ontology today", trans. Justin ClemensJustin ClemensJustin Clemens is an Australian philosopher, translator, social critic, and poet. He is primarily known today for his work on Alain Badiou as an editor, translator, and scholar writing, speaking, and lecturing on the impact of Badiou's thought in this contemporary juncture.A former instructor in...
, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 28-35. - Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues (dir.), Cahiers Simondon - Numéro 1 (Paris, L'Harmattan, 2009).
- Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Simondon ou l'Encyclopédisme génétique (Paris, P.U.F., 2008).
- Giovanni Carrozzini [a cura di], Gilbert Simondon filosofo delle tecniche, "Il Protagora", XXXVI, luglio-dicembre 2008, quinta serie, n. 12, pp. 255-502.
- Giovanni Carrozzini, "Gilbert Simonodn: per un'assiomatica dei saperi. Dall'"ontologia dell'individuo" alla filosofia della tecnologia, Manni, San Cesario di Lecce 2006
- Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Penser l'individuation. Simondon et la philosophie de la nature (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2005). .
- Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Penser la connaissance et la technique après Simondon (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2005). .
- Revue philosophique, Gilbert Simondon, n°3/2006.
- Caponi, Saverio, Gilbert Simondon. La tecnica e la vita, Lulu.com, 2010.
- Chabot, Pascal, La philosophie de Simondon (Paris, Vrin, 2003).
- Deleuze, GillesGilles DeleuzeGilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
, "On Gilbert Simondon," in Desert Islands and Other Texts, 1953–1974 (Los Angeles & New York: Semiotext(e), 2004): 86–9. ISBN 1-58435-018-0 - Dumouchel, Paul, "Gilbert Simondon's Plea for a Philosophy of Technology," in The Politics of Knowledge (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995): 255-71. ISBN 0-253-20940-4.
- During, Elie, Simondon au pied du mur. .
- Hottois, GilbertGilbert HottoisGilbert Hottois is a Belgian professor of Philosophy at the Université Libre de Bruxelles who specialises in Bioethics.His positions include:* Vice-Président of the Association des Sociétés de Philosophie de Langue Française ;...
, Simondon et la philosophie de la culture technique (Brussels: De Boeck, 1992). . - Mackenzie, Adrian, Transductions: Bodies and Machines at Speed (Continuum Press, 2002). ISBN 0-8264-5883-1
- Massumi, Brian, Technical Mentality" Revisited: Brian Massumi on Gilbert Simondon, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 36-45.
- Stiegler, BernardBernard StieglerBernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
, Acting OutActing Out (book)Acting Out is a book by French philosopher Bernard Stiegler. It is composed of two short works, "How I Became a Philosopher," and "To Love, To Love Me, To Love Us: From September 11 to April 21," which were published separately in French in 2003 as Passer à l'acte and Aimer, s'aimer, nous aimer: Du...
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009). - Stiegler, Bernard, The Theater of Individuation: Phase-shift and Resolution in Simondon and Heidegger, trans. Kristina Lebedeva, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 46-57.
- Stiegler, Bernard, Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998).
- Stiegler, Bernard, Temps et individuation technique, psychique, et collective dans l’oeuvre de Simondon. .
- Toscano, AlbertoAlberto ToscanoAlberto Toscano is a cultural critic, social theorist, philosopher and translator best known to the English-speaking world for his translations of the work of Alain Badiou, including Badiou’s The Century and Logics of Worlds...
, "Technical Culture and the Limits of Interaction: A Note on Simondon," in Joke Brouwer & Arjen Mulder (eds.), Interact or Die! (Rotterdam: NAi, 2007): 198-205. - Virno, Paolo, Angels and the General Intellect: Individuation in Duns Scotus and Gilbert Simondon, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 58-67.
Online translations
- On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, Part 1, link to PDF file of 1980 translation.
- The Individual and Its Physico-Biological Genesis, Part 1, link to HTML file of unpublished 2007 translation.
- The Individual and Its Physico-Biological Genesis, Part 2, link to HTML file of unpublished 2007 translation.
- The Position of the Problem of Ontogenesis.
- Technical Mentality.
Other links
- Jean-Hugues Barthélémy translated (on Simondon's link to Bergson and Teilhard de Chardin)
- "Simondon" issue, online revue Parrhesia
- Filmed interview of Gilbert Simondon on the subject of mechanology (French, 1968)
- The French Wikipedia page on Simondon
- Autour de Simondon, list of articles about Simondon, by the revue online Appareil
- List of articles about Simondon, by Jean-Hugues Barthélémy
- Barthelemy's Conference - video - at "Université de tous les savoirs" about Simondon and the new Enlightenment
- "Penser l'école avec Gilbert Simondon", by Jean-Hugues Barthélémy
- « Simondon au pied du mur », by Elie During .
- List of papers accessible on PDF by Adrian MacKenzie, related to Canguilhem's concepts of individuation, transductions, etc (under Creative CommonsCreative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
copyleftCopyleftCopyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work...
licence). - List of 20 definitions of Simondonian concepts.