Overview

tienne Balibar, one of the foremost living French philosophers, builds on his landmark work 'Spinoza and Politics' with this exploration of Spinoza's ontology. Balibar situates Spinoza in relation to the major figures of Marx and Freud as a precursor to the more recent French thinker Gilbert Simondon's concept of the transindividual. Presenting a crucial development in his thought, Balibar takes the concept of transindividuality beyond Spinoza to show it at work at both the individual and the collective level.

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9781474454285

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Reviews

'This collection is a rich, fascinating and important one ... [It] marks an important new direction in Spinoza studies and puts the problem of individuality and relationality squarely before us. Well translated, it will be of service to scholars of Balibar and of Spinoza for many years to come.' - Dan Taylor, Open University, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

This collection is a rich, fascinating and important one ... [It] marks an important new direction in Spinoza studies and puts the problem of individuality and relationality squarely before us. Well translated, it will be of service to scholars of Balibar and of Spinoza for many years to come. -- Dan Taylor, Open University * Marx and Philosophy Review of Books * Unlike other interpretations of Spinoza which tend to focus on either Spinoza’s ontology or politics but not on both, Balibar’s reading is a sustained, vibrant and richly rewarding endeavor to think – together with Spinoza – ontology through politics and politics through ontology. -- Michael Della Rocca, Yale University Étienne Balibar’s concept of transindividuality opens bold new ways to theorise citizens, society, and the state and their reciprocal constitution through desire along complex lines of race, class and nation. Inspired by Althusser, Marx, Freud and, above all, Spinoza, these brilliant essays display a unique and powerfully engaged approach to our political present. -- Moira Gatens, University of Sydney This collection provides a privileged entry point into Balibar’s theoretical laboratory. From the 'structural causality' of Reading Capital to the 'ontology of relations' of The Philosophy of Marx and the 'transindividual' of his mature phase, one can grasp the development of a problematic for which Spinoza’s thought is no longer a detour but a main reference for understanding the project of equaliberty. -- Vittorio Morfino, University of Milan-Bicocca A fascinating collection of essays on the foundations of Spinoza’s ontology and politics, Balibar’s Spinoza, the Transindividual offers an incisive and novel understanding of Spinoza’s critique of humanism. This is a work that is posed to become a philosophical classic. -- Yitzhak Y. Melamed, Johns Hopkins University

Author Information

Étienne Balibar is one of the foremost living French philosophers. He holds positions as Anniversary Chair in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, Visiting Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of French and Italian and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris, Nanterre. He initially rose to prominence as the student-collaborator of Louis Althusser, co-editing with him the collection Reading Capital, a global landmark in Marxist philosophy. Since then, he has written dozens of books and hundreds of articles, being particularly known for his writings on race, Europe, Spinoza, and political thought more generally, including his well-regarded books on Marx and Locke. Mark G. E. Kelly is Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts and ARC Future Fellow at the University of Western Sydney.

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