Gilles Deleuze - U as in *Un* (One)
Personal interpretation of U chapter
L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze
The following is an overview of the u chapter of interviews between Gilles Deleuze and Claire Parnet.
Parnet begins by stating that philosophy and science supposedly concern themselves with "universals."
However Deleuze always says that philosophy must always stay in contact with singularities. Isn't there a paradox here? she asks. Deleuze says there is no paradox because philosophy and even science have strictly nothing to do with universals. This is a ready-made idea, from general opinion, i.e. the opinion about philosophy that it concerns itself with universals, and that science concerns itself with universal phenomena that can always be reproduced, etc. Deleuze suggests considering the statement: all bodies fall. What is important, Deleuze insists, is not that all bodies fall, but rather the fall itself and the singularities of the fall. Even were scientific singularities reproducible -- for example, mathematical singularities in functions, or physical singularities, or chemical singularities, etc. --, fine, and then what? Deleuze argues that these are secondary phenomena, processes of universalization, but what science addresses is not universals, but singularities: when does a body change its state, from the liquid state to the solid state, etc.
Deleuze continues by arguing that philosophy is not concerned with the one, being . To suggest that is stupid . Rather, it is also concerned with singularities. Finally, one almost always discovers multiplicities, which are aggregates of singularities. The formula for multiplicities and for aggregates of multiplicities is n - 1, i.e. the One is what must always be subtracted. So Deleuze maintains that there are two errors not to be made: philosophy is not concerned with universals. There are three kinds of universals, he says: universals of contemplation -- Ideas with a capital I; universals of reflection; and universals of communication, the last refuge of the philosophy of universals.
Habermas likes these universals of communication .
This means philosophy is defined either as contemplation or reflection, or as communication. In all three cases, it's quite comical, really quite farcical . The philosophy that contemplates, ok, Deleuze says: that makes everybody laugh. The philosophy that reflects doesn't make us laugh, but is even stupider because no one needs philosophy in order to reflect. Mathematicians don't need philosophy in order to reflect on mathematics. An artist does not need to seek out philosophy in order to reflect on painting or on music. Boulez does not need philosophy in order to reflect on music. To believe that philosophy is a reflection *on* anything is to despise it all. And after all, about what is philosophy supposed to reflect on? Deleuze asks. As for philosophy being the restoration of a consensus in communication from the basis of universals of communication, that is the most laughable idea that we've heard since... For philosophy has strictly nothing to do with communication. Communication suffices very well in itself, and all this about consensus and opinions is the art of interrogations.
Deleuze reiterates that philosophy consists in creating concepts, which does not mean communicating. Art is not communicative or reflective, Deleuze argues, art isn't, nor is science, nor is philosophy contemplative or reflective or communicative. It's creative, that's all. So, he concludes, the formula is n - 1, suppress the unity, suppress the universal. Parnet replies that Deleuze feels, therefore, that universals have nothing to do with philosophy, and Deleuze smiles, shaking his head.
