Craig Lundy - Deleuze’s Bergsonism

Deleuzes
Bergsonism

To my two great mentors in matters Bergson and Deleuze,
Robin Durie and Paul Patton.

Deleuzes
Bergsonism

CRAIG LUNDY

EDINBURGH

University Press

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Craig Lundy, 2018

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Contents

Acknowledgements

This book has its origin in two reading groups that I attended as a student, which explored the work of Bergson and Deleuze one organised by Robin Durie in Exeter, and the other by Paul Patton in Sydney. It was in these groups that I learnt what it meant to read a text properly. I therefore have much to thank Robin and Paul for: their pedagogical practice, insights on Bergson/Deleuze, professional advice, and last but not least, friendship. Along the way I have had countless discussions and debates about matters Bergson and Deleuze that have all fed into this book. While it is impossible to cite all my interlocutors here, please forgive me for singling out the following: Nadine Boljkovac, Sean Bowden, Ian Buchanan, Simon Duffy, Gregg Flaxman, Mike Hale, Joe Hughes, Masa Kosugi, Gregg Lambert, John Maoilearca, Jon Roffe, Anne Sauvagnargues, Henry Somers-Hall, Dan Smith, Marcelo Svirsky, Iris van der Tuin, Daniela Voss, Nathan Widder and James Williams. Much credit for this book must also go to Carol Macdonald, who approached me about writing a monograph of this kind. At the time it had not been my intention to do so, but as those who know Carol will confirm, she is a difficult person to say no to, for all the best reasons. Needless to say I have found her work and that of the team at EUP to be nothing short of outstanding. Finally, I must thank Stevie Voogt, though the term thanks hardly approaches how I feel and what she deserves. Since taking on this project we have experienced several momentous life changes, and through it all she has shouldered much of the weight whilst also being my support. This book is thus as much hers as it is anyones, so I hope that Ive done it justice.

Abbreviations

Bergson

Deleuze (single and co-authored)

Introduction

BERGSONISM LOST AND FOUND

There is a thinker whose name is today on everybodys lips, who is deemed by acknowledged philosophers worthy of comparison with the greatest, and who, with his pen as well as his brain, has overleapt all technical obstacles, and won himself a reading both outside and inside the schools. Beyond any doubt, and by common consent, Mr Henri Bergsons work will appear to future eyes among the most characteristic, fertile, and glorious of our era. It marks a never-to-be-forgotten date in history; it opens up a phase of metaphysical thought; it lays down a principle of development the limits of which are indeterminable; and it is after cool consideration, with full consciousness of the exact value of words, that we are able to pronounce the revolution which it effects equal in importance to that effected by Kant, or even by Socrates. (Edouard Le Roy, A New Philosophy: Henri Bergson, 1912)

Edouard Le Roy, it would appear, was not the best of fortune tellers. Future eyes did not look upon Henri Bergson so fondly. More damningly, his work was largely ignored by subsequent generations, to the point where most university students today complete their studies without once coming across Bergsons name. Le Roy was nevertheless correct about one thing when he wrote the above: in 1912, Bergson was the talk of the town. After the publication of his third book