The living difference. Morphological issues in Ruyer, Simondon and Deleuze

Abstract

Philosophical morphology carries on a difficult tradition, bound with different currents and periods of thought. During the 20^th century, an original and profound reflection on the living form can be recognized in the so-called French biophilosophy. Morphology, thus, seems to re-emerge under the guise of a post-critical ontology of becoming. Thinkers like Raymond Ruyer, Gilbert Simondon and Gilles Deleuze showed that they were deeply aware of the manifold issues revolving around the notion of form and of their interconnections, and were able to provide original solutions to these problems in the framework of their thought systems.

More recently, these reflections have asserted themselves in virtue of their coherence and their speculative force. This paper aims at a theoretical overview of the morphological spirit of biophilosophy that retraces the complex exchanges of influences between these three significant thinkers, Ruyer, Simondon and Deleuze. Along the focal nodes of temporality, spatiality and individuality, a renewed image of philosophical morphology will result from the vitality of their theoretical proposals.