Edinburgh University Press Gilles Deleuze's Logic of Sense: A Critical Introduction and Guide

This book offers the first critical study of The Logic of Sense, Gilles Deleuze's most important work on language and ethics, as well as the main source for his vital philosophy of the event. Deleuze's philosophy has always promised a revolution in ethical theories and in our understanding of the relation between language, thought and action. This book develops a critical reading of Deleuze's work in order to convey the potential and risks of his new approaches to questions of how to live an intense life in response to the excitement and danger of events. This interpretation covers all aspects of Deleuze's book, including engagements with phenomenology, with analytic philosophy of language, with stoicism, with literary theory and with psychoanalysis. Its aim is to open new debates and develop current ones around Deleuze's work in philosophy, politics, literature, linguistics and sociology. From the Inside Flap James Williams has an amazing talent for extracting simple and important questions out of an apparently abstruse argument. He does so at regular intervals, so that the reader is able to grasp Deleuze's argument as it unfolds. This book will be essential reading for whoever wants to master Deleuze's philosophical project.Jean-Jacques Lecercle, University of Nanterre, ParisThis is the first critical study of The Logic of Sense, Gilles Deleuze's most important work on language and ethics, as well as the main source of his vital philosophy of the event.James Williams explains the originality of Deleuze's work with careful definitions of all his innovative terms and a detailed description of the complex structure he constructs. This reading makes connections to his ground-breaking work on literature, to his critical but also progressive relation to the sciences, and to his controversial denial of the priority of standard logics, human values and 'meaning' in thinking.This book will open new debates and develop current ones around Deleuze's work in philosophy, politics, literature, linguistics, cultural studies and sociology. From the Back Cover James Williams has an amazing talent for extracting simple and important questions out of an apparently abstruse argument. He does so at regular intervals, so that the reader is able to grasp Deleuze's argument as it unfolds. This book will be essential reading for whoever wants to master Deleuze's philosophical project. Jean-Jacques Lecercle, University of Nanterre, Paris This is the first critical study of The Logic of Sense, Gilles Deleuze's most important work on language and ethics, as well as the main source of his vital philosophy of the event. James Williams explains the originality of Deleuze's work with careful definitions of all his innovative terms and a detailed description of the complex structure he constructs. This reading makes connections to his ground-breaking work on literature, to his critical but also progressive relation to the sciences, and to his controversial denial of the priority of standard logics, human values and 'meaning' in thinking. This book will open new debates and develop current ones around Deleuze's work in philosophy, politics, literature, linguistics, cultural studies and sociology. About the Author James Williams is Professor of European Philosophy at the University of Dundee. He has published widely on Deleuze, including Gilles Deleuze's Logic of Sense: a Critical Introduction and Guide (Edinburgh University Press, 2008), The Transversal Thought of Gilles Deleuze: Encounters and Influences (Manchester: Clinamen, 2005) and Gilles Deleuze's Difference and Repetition: a Critical Introduction and Guide (Edinburgh University Press, 2003)