The topic of this article came out of an academic shock: one of those jarring halts where agreeable study is brought short by an incongruous idea or image. Such jolts can be a good thing: they force us to think anew, in the Deleuzian sense of event as a shock…
Continue ReadingAuthor: James Williams
Perishing and Démontage in the Works of Jean-Marc Rochette: a Process Philosophy of Life and Death (Démontage II)
This post was partly written in preparation for a (storm-affected) contribution to the ERC funded project ‘Film and Death‘ led by Susana Viegas at IFILNOVA. J’ai moi-même souvent vécu ces temps d’intersection entre la vie et la mort. [I too have often lived through such times of intersection between life…
Continue ReadingAutopoiesis and Death (Semiology of Autopoiesis IX)
Thus, if I kick a dog or a snake, the dog and the snake will react according to their dog-ness or snake-ness, from their internal circuit—from within. Pier Luigi Luisi, Essays on Life Sciences with Related Science Fiction Stories, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020, p 51 This claim,…
Continue ReadingCan a Sign Be Used Autonomously? (Semiology of Autopoiesis VIII)
To be a sense-maker is, in other words, to be actively sensitive to dangerous or beneficial trends in the ongoing coupling with the world. Sense-making thus combines, in nuce and for all forms of life, what for complex minds, like those of animals, can be differentiated into action, perception, and…
Continue ReadingTime and One-way Events: Bande Dessinée as Démontage (Deleuze’s Timed Logic, VII; Démontage I)
[To give a sense of the bande dessinées referred to in this discussion I have included covers and links to publishers. Many of them give sample pages of their books on their websites, should you want to follow them up. I make no financial benefit from these links. They are…
Continue ReadingWon’t be fooled again? Ezekiel Di Paolo and Enactive Autopoiesis: Semiology of Autopoiesis (VII)
I have distinguished between strict and loose definitions of the concept of autopoiesis. These definitions can overlap, in the sense that one might share conditions with another. They can also be inconsistent, internally and with each other, when they involve contradictory conditions. A looser definition has more conditions, but these…
Continue ReadingLanguage and Social Systems: Semiology of Autopoiesis (VI)
Can a closed social system that uses a common language be autopoietic? If words, grammar and meanings evolve outside the boundary of a system, can the system be autonomous when it employs them? There is a simple preliminary answer to these questions. A closed system can be autonomous and autopoietic…
Continue ReadingDeleuze’s Timed Logic (VI) The Event and Time (English Draft of Version for Sabah Ülkesi Magazine)
The step is mouldy and uncomfortable. They come to sit either side of you. Remnants of tear gas in their eyes: both are crying. Your nostrils burn too. Screams and shield bashing can be heard rising from the main square. How is this an event? Well worn, the stone has…
Continue ReadingModes of Explanation: Semiology of Autopoiesis (V)
Across my first three posts on autopoiesis I have contrasted strict and looser definitions of the concept. The stricter definitions are more logically consistent; they hold together rigorously. The looser definitions apply to increased real and imaginary cases; they have greater extension. It would be a mistake, though, to think…
Continue ReadingFantastic Pragmatism (published version)
My article on the need for pragmatism to be metaphysically inventive is now published in Nóema (No.13, 2022). Many thanks to the editorial board and readers for their comments and support. Fantastic Pragmatism (PDF) Introduction: pragmatism as fantastic, metaphysical and self-critical The everyday sense of pragmatic involves ideas of sensible…
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