François Laruelle

François Laruelle

Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	French philosophy
School	Non-philosophy
Notable ideas	Principle of Sufficient Philosophy, the philosophical decision, the One, vision-in-one, clone, determination-in-the-last-instance
Influenced Ray Brassier, Gilles Grelet

François Laruelle  pronunciation (help·info) (born 1937, Chavelot, Vosges) is a French philosopher, formerly of the Collège international de philosophie and the University of Paris X: Nanterre. Alumnus of the École normale supérieure, Laruelle is notable for developing a science of philosophy that he calls "non-philosophy". He currently directs an international organisation dedicated to furthering the cause of non-philosophy, the Organisation Non-Philosophique Internationale. He has been described by Scottish philosopher Ray Brassier as "the most important unknown philosopher working in Europe today" (Brassier, 2003, p. 24) and was described by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari as "engaged in one of the most interesting undertakings of contemporary philosophy."^[1]

Philosophical and Non-Philosophical Development

Laruelle divides his work into four periods: Philosophy I (1971–1981), Philosophy II (1981–1995), Philosophy III (1995–2002), and Philosophy IV (2002–Present).

The work comprising Philosophy I finds Laruelle attempting to subvert concepts found in Nietzsche, Heidegger, Deleuze and Derrida. Even at this early stage one can identify Laruelle's interest in adopting a transcendental stance towards philosophy.

With Philosophy II, Laruelle makes a determined effort to develop a transcendental approach to philosophy itself. However, it is not until Philosophy III that Laruelle claims to have started the work of non-philosophy.

Non-philosophy

Main article: Non-philosophy

Laruelle claims that all forms of philosophy (from ancient philosophy to analytic philosophy to deconstruction and so on) are structured around a prior decision, but that all forms of philosophy remain constitutively blind to this decision. The 'decision' that Laurelle is concerned with here is the dialectical splitting of the world in order to grasp the world philosophically. Laruelle claims that the decisional structure of philosophy can only be grasped non-philosophically. In this sense, non-philosophy is a science of philosophy.

Selected bibliography

Articles translated into English:

François Laruelle, 'A Summary of Non-Philosophy' in Pli: The Warwick Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 8. Philosophies of Nature, 1999.

François Laruelle, 'Identity and Event' in Pli: The Warwick Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 9. Parallel Processes, 2000.

François Laruelle, 'The Decline of Materialism in the Name of Matter' in Pli: The Warwick Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 12. What Is Materialism? 2001.

François Laruelle, 'The Truth According to Hermes: Theorems on the Secret and Communication' in Parrhesia 9 (2010): 18-22.

Philosophie I

Phénomène et différence. Éssai sur l'ontologie de Ravaisson [Phenomenon and Difference: An Essay on Ravaisson's Ontology], Klinskieck, Paris, 1971.

Machines textuelles. Déconstruction et libido d'écriture [Textual Machines: Deconstruction and Libido of Writing], Seuil, Paris, 1976.

Nietzsche contra Heidegger. Thèses pour une politique nietzschéenne [Nietzsche contra Heidegger: Theses for a Nietzschean Politics], Payot, Paris, 1977.

Philosophie II

Le principe de minorité [The Minority Principle], Aubier Montaigne, Paris, 1981.

Une biographie de l'homme ordinaire. Des Autorités et des Minorités [A Biography of the Ordinary Man: Of Authorities and Minorities], PUF, Paris, 1985.

Les Philosophies de la différence. Introduction critique [English translation: Philosophies of Difference: A Critical Introduction to Non-Philosophy, trans. Rocco Gangle, New York, Continuum 2010.] Paris, PUF, 1986.

Philosophie et non-philosophie [Philosophy and Non-Philosophy], Mardaga, Liège/Brussels, 1989.

En tant qu'un. La non-philosophie éxpliquée au philosophes [As One: Non-Philosophy Explained to Philosophers], Aubier, Paris, 1991.

Philosophie III

Théorie des Étrangers. Science des hommes, démocratie, non-psychoanalyse [Theory of Strangers: Science of Men, Democracy, Non-Psychoanalysis], Kimé, Paris, 1995.

Principes de la non-philosophie [The Principles of Non-Philosophy], PUF, Paris, 1996.

Dictionnaire de la non-philosophie [Dictionary of Non-Philosophy], François Laruelle et Collaborateurs, Kimé, Paris, 1998.

Éthique de l'Étranger. Du crime contre l'humanité [Ethics of the Stranger: Of The Crime Against Humanity], Kimé, Paris, 2000.

Introduction au non-marxisme [Introduction to Non-Marxism], PUF, Paris, 2000.

Philosophie IV

Le Christ futur, une leçon d'hérésie [English translation Future Christ: A Lesson in Heresy, trans. Anthony Paul Smith, New York, Continuum 2010], Exils, Paris 2002.

L'ultime honneur des intellectuels [The Ultimate Honor of Intellectuals], Textuel, Paris 2003.

La Lutte et l'Utopie à la fin des temps philosophiques [Struggle and Utopia in the Endtimes of Philosophy], Kimé, Paris 2004.

Mystique non-philosophique à l’usage des contemporains [Non-Philosophical Mysticism for Contemporary Use], L'Harmat, Paris 2007.

Other Works Cited

Ray Brassier, 'Axiomatic Heresy: The Non-Philosophy of Francois Laruelle', Radical Philosophy 121, Sep/Oct 2003.

References

1. ^ Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?, Trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Graham Burchell (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994) 220n5.

External links

• Organisation Non-Philosophique Internationale (ONPhI)
• www.la-non-philosophie.net
• Speculative Heresy, a new blog featuring original translations of Laruelle and commentary on non-philosophy and speculative realism

Persondata
Name	Laruelle, Francois
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Date of birth	1937
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