Gilbert Simondon

Infobox Philosopher
region = Western Philosophy
era = 20th-century philosophy
color = #B0C4DE
name = Gilbert Simondon
birth = October 2, 1924
death = February 7, 1989
school_tradition = Continental philosophy
main_interests = Technology
notable_ideas = Individuation
influences =
influenced = Deleuze, Stiegler

Gilbert Simondon (October 2 1924 – February 7 1989) was a French philosopher best known for his theory of individuation and his interest in technology.

Career

Born in Saint-Étienne, Simondon was a student of philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem, Martial Guéroult, and phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty. He studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Sorbonne. His major works are "Du mode d'existence des objets techniques" and "L'individuation psychique et collective", which was also his thesis.

Individuation and technology

In "L'individuation psychique et collective", Simondon developed a theory of individual and collective individuation, in which the individual subject is considered as an effect of individuation, rather than as a cause. Thus the individual atom is replaced by the neverending process of individuation. Simondon also conceived of "pre-individual fields" as the funds making individuation itself possible. Individuation is an always incomplete process, always leaving a "pre-individual" left-over, itself making possible future individuations. Furthermore, individuation always creates both an individual and a collective subject, which individuate themselves together.

Gilbert Simondon criticized Norbert Wiener's theory of cybernetics, arguing that, "Right from the start, Cybernetics has accepted what all theory of technology must refuse: a classification of technological objects conducted by means of established criteria and following genera and species." Simondon aimed to overcome the shortcomings of cybernetics by developing a "general phenomenology" of machines.

Influence

Simondon's theory of individuation through transduction in a metastable environment was an important influence on the thought of Gilles Deleuze. Simondon's work has also been adopted by Bernard Stiegler, who places the theory of individuation at the very heart of his philosophical project. Stiegler nevertheless argues that, paradoxically, Simondon failed to think the constitutive role that technical individuation plays in psychic and collective individuation. ["What links the "I" with the "we" in this individuation is a preindividual milieu, which has positive conditions of effectivity, related to what I have called the retentional apparatuses. These retentional apparatuses are supported by the technical milieu, which is the condition of the meeting of the "I" and the "we": the individuation of "I" and of "we" is equally in a sense the individuation of a technical system (this is what Simondon, strangely, didn’t see)." Stiegler, "De la misère symbolique 1. L'époque hyperindustrielle" (Paris: Galilée, 2004), p. 106.]

References

Bibliography

Primary literature

*"Du mode d'existence des objets techniques" (Méot, 1958; second ed. Paris: Aubier, 1989).
*"L'individu et sa genèse physico-biologique (l'individuation à la lumière des notions de forme et d'information)" (Paris: PUF, 1964; second ed. J.Millon, coll. Krisis, 1995).
*"L'individuation psychique et collective" (Paris: Aubier, 1989; thesis).

Published 2005–2006
*"L’Invention dans les techniques", Cours et conferences (Éd. du Seuil, coll. "Traces écrites").
*"L’Individuation à la lumière des notions de forme et d’information" (Jérôme Millon, coll. Krisis).
*"Cours sur la perception" (1964-1965), Préface de Renaud Barbaras (La Tansparence).

English translations
*"The Genesis of the Individual," in Jonathan Crary & Sanford Kwinter (eds.), "Incorporations" (New York: Zone Books, 1992): 297–319.
*"Technical Individualization," in Joke Brouwer & Arjen Mulder (eds.), "Interact or Die!" (Rotterdam: NAi, 2007).

econdary literature

*Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, "Penser l'individuation. Simondon et la philosophie de la nature" (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2005). fr icon.
*Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, "Penser la connaissance et la technique après Simondon" (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2005). fr icon.
*Deleuze, Gilles, "On Gilbert Simondon," in "Desert Islands and Other Texts, 1953–1974" (Los Angeles & New York: Semiotext(e), 2004): 86–9. ISBN 1-58435-018-0
*During, Elie, [http://ciepfc.rhapsodyk.net/article.php3?id_article=128 Simondon au pied du mur] . fr icon.
*Hottois, Gilbert, "Simondon et la philosophie de la culture technique" (Brussels: De Boeck, 1992). fr icon.
*Mackenzie, Adrian, "Transductions: Bodies and Machines at Speed" (Continuum Press, 2002). ISBN 0-8264-5883-1
*Stiegler, Bernard, [http://www.humanities.uci.edu/humanitech/Nanomutations.pdf#search=%22%22hypomnemata%20and%20grammatisation%22%22 Nanomutations, Hypomnemata, and Grammatisation.]
*Stiegler, Bernard, "" (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998).
*Stiegler, Bernard, [http://multitudes.samizdat.net/Temps-et-individuation-technique.html Temps et individuation technique, psychique, et collective dans l’oeuvre de Simondon] . fr icon.
*Toscano, Alberto, "Technical Culture and the Limits of Interaction: A Note on Simondon," in Joke Brouwer & Arjen Mulder (eds.), "Interact or Die!" (Rotterdam: NAi, 2007): 198-205.
*"Revue philosophique", Gilbert Simondon, n°3/2006, (Paris: P.U.F., 2006). fr icon.

External links

Online translations

* [http://accursedshare.blogspot.com/2007/11/gilbert-simondon-on-mode-of-existence.html On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, Part 1] , link to PDF file of 1980 translation.
* [http://fractalontology.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/translation-simondon-and-the-physico-biological-genesis-of-the-individual/ The Individual and Its Physico-Biological Genesis, Part 1] , link to HTML file of unpublished 2007 translation.
* [http://fractalontology.wordpress.com/2007/10/19/translation-simondon-completion-of-section-i-chapter-1-the-individual-and-its-physico-biological-genesis/ The Individual and Its Physico-Biological Genesis, Part 2] , link to HTML file of unpublished 2007 translation.

Other links

* [http://ciepfc.rhapsodyk.net/article.php3?id_article=128 « Simondon au pied du mur », by Elie During] fr icon.
* [http://www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/mackenza/papers.php List of papers accessible on PDF by Adrian MacKenzie, related to Canguilhem's concepts of individuation, transductions, etc] (under Creative Commons copyleft licence).
* [http://fractalontology.wordpress.com/2007/11/28/a-short-list-of-gilbert-simondons-vocabulary/ List of 20 definitions of Simondonian concepts] .