Deleuze and the Genesis of Representation (Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy, 90)

This book makes an original and important contribution to Deleuze studies. "Deleuze and the Genesis of Representation" argues that Deleuze's thought, far from carrying out a critique of representation, is in fact an account of its genesis. Because an account of the genesis of representation is an essentially phenomenological project, Joe Hughes begins by clarifying what the expression 'the genesis of representation' means phenomenologically and describes the way in which Edmund Husserl theorized the production of meaning and representation. Hughes goes on to show how three of Deleuze's most important works - "Difference and Repetition", "The Logic of Sense" and "Anti-Oedipus" - continue this project. The book concludes by directly addressing Deleuze's complex use of language by situating that use in relation to a Heideggerian critique of Husserl.In a highly original and crucial contribution to Deleuze Studies, this book offers the first sustained argument against the 'virtual' as Deleuze's primary concept. Instead Hughes shows that it is produced and therefore refers to more fundamental concepts. He also offers the first reading of Deleuze as a systematic philosopher. Deleuze and the Genesis of Representation is a systematic study of three of Deleuze's central works: Difference and Repetition, The Logic of Sense and, with Guattari, Anti-Oedipus. Hughes shows how each of these three works develops the Husserlian problem of genetic constitution. After an innovative reading of Husserl's late work, Hughes turns to a detailed study of the conceptual structures of Deleuze's three books. He demonstrates that each book is surprisingly similar in its structure and that all three function as nearly identical accounts of the genesis of representation. In a highly original and crucial contribution to Deleuze Studies, this book offers a provocative perspective on many of the questions Deleuze's work has raised: What is the status of representation? Of subjectivity? What is a body without organs? How is the virtual produced, and what exactly is its function within Deleuze's thought as a whole? By contextualizing Deleuze's thought within the radicalization of phenomenology, Hughes is able to suggest solutions to these questions that will be as compelling as they are controversial. Chapters Include: 'husserl, Reduction And Constitution', 'the Logic Of Sense', 'the Material Reduction', 'desiring-production', 'social Production', 'static Genesis - Ideas And Intensity' And 'dynamic Genesis - The Production Of Time'. Part I : Husserl And Deleuze -- Husserl, Reduction And Constitution -- The Logic Of Sense -- Part Ii : Anti-oedipus -- The Material Reduction And Schizogenesis -- Desiring-production -- Social Production -- Part Iii : Difference And Repetition -- Static Genesis : Ideas And Intensity -- Dynamic Genesis : The Production Of Time -- Conclusion. Joe Hughes. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [159]-189) And Index. A contribution to Deleuze studies, this book argues that Deleuze's thought, far from carrying out a critique of representation, is in fact an account of its genesis. It also describes the way in which Edmund Husserl theorized the production of meaning and representation.