Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy - 9781780937991

This is a reproduction of Manuel DeLanda's (now ten year old) landmark text in philosophy of science by way of an exposition of the notoriously difficult thought of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. DeLanda applies Deleuze's realist epistemology and immanentist ontology to scientific knowledge. DeLanda and Deleuze's realist approach seeks to break with the anti-realism of much continental philosophy, which has eschewed mind-independent realities. He advocates for curiosity toward the autonomy of material entities and how this autonomy is not reducible to the world of everyday perception and common sense. He stresses how while "the properties that define an object's identity ... are always actual, [its] tendencies and capacities can be real without being actual." The book is comprised of four chapters that explore these "virtual properties" and their relationship to mathematics and the laws of physics, but also their actualization in space and time. Though DeLanda's text does not depart from Deleuze's terminology, he does provide an appendix to try and make sense of it for the reader. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)