Immanence And The Vertigo Of Philosophy: From Kant To Deleuze (plateaus New Directions In Deleuze Studies Eup)

One of the terminological constants in the philosophical work of Gilles Deleuze is the word 'immanence', and it has therefore become a foothold for those wishing to understand exactly what 'Deleuzian philosophy' is. Deleuze's philosophy of immanence is held to be fundamentally characterised by its opposition to all philosophies of 'transcendence'. On that basis, it is widely believed that Deleuze's project is premised on a return to a materialist metaphysics. Christian Kerslake argues that such an interpretation is fundamentally misconceived, and has led to misunderstandings of Deleuze's philosophy, which is rather one of the latest heirs to the post-Kantian tradition of thought about immanence. This will be the first book to assess Deleuze's relationship to Kantian epistemology and post-Kantian philosophy, and will attempt to make Deleuze's philosophy intelligible to students working within that tradition. But it also attempts to reconstruct our image of the post-Kantian tradition, isolating a lineage that takes shape in the work of Schelling and Wronski, and which is developed in the twentieth century by Bergson, Warrain and Deleuze.

One of the terminological constants in the philosophical work of Gilles Deleuze is the work "immanence." His philosophy of immanence is fundamentally characterized by its opposition to all philosophies of "transcendence," and on that basis, Deleuze's project has been premised as a return to a materialist metaphysics. Christian Kerslake argues against this misconception, reassessing Deleuze's relationship to Kantian epistemology and post-Kantian philosophy. He not only translates Deleuze's philosophy to students working within the tradition, but he also reconstructs our idea of the post-Kantian tradition, isolating the influences of Schelling and Wronski and the subsequent advances made by Bergson, Warrain, and Deleuze.

Edinburgh University Press

Cover 1 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Note on the Text and Acknowledgements 8 Note on Sources and Abbreviations 9 Introduction: The Problem of Immanence – Kant, Hegel and Spinozism 12 1 Critique and the Ends of Reason 58 2 The Metaphysical Origins of Kantianism 112 3 Kant and the Structure of Cognition 178 4 Deleuze and the Vertigo of Immanence 221 Appendix: Francis Warrain’s Diagram of Wronski’s Law of Creation 297 Bibliography 299 Index 338