Thursday 13th February 2020 | 4.30-6.30pm
Margaret Macmillan Building (MMB) 220
Goldsmiths, University of London
London SE14 6NW

All Welcome.

Part of the Pluralistic Variations Lecture Series
Organised by Martin Savransky (Sociology)

Philosophy without Grounding

In the wake of the so-called “foundational crisis” in philosophy, one can discern at least two distinct responses. The first one gives up the idea of grounding thought, and replaces it by an axiomatics (as analytical philosophy has done). The second, however, never gave up the question of foundations but discovered the depths of groundlessness. This is the case of philosophers such as William James, Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, or Etienne Souriau. Situated in the latter tradition, the aim of this talk is therefore to explore the following question: how is foundation possible on the basis of groundlessness? 

David Lapoujade is Professor of Philosophy at l’Universite Paris-1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. He has written extensively on the philosophy of William James, Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze and Etienne Souriau. His publi- cations include William James: Empiricism and Pragmatism (1997, trans. forthcoming with Duke University Press), Powers ofTime:Versions of Bergson (Univocal, 2010), Aberrant Movements:The Philosophy of Gilles Deleuze (Semiotext(e), 2017), and most recently Les Existences Moindres (Les Editions de Minuit, 2017)