From: Goodchild P <p.goodchild-AT-ucsm.ac.uk> Subject: Eric Alliez Date: Mon, 21 Oct 96 11:58:00 BST Eric Alliez wrote his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Deleuze, and the first half of this has now appeared in English under the title Capital Times. It purports to be an 'archaeology' (in the Foucaultian sense) of the concept of time in the Western philosophical tradition, and explores the layers of accretion of this concept through Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, and Medieval Scholasticism. The differing components of the concept will be added together to culminate in the Kantian conception of time, explored in the second volume, to be published in French shortly. While there is some reference to cultural factors that might be associated with the differing conceptions of time, it is mainly a work of the history of philosophy - perhaps a little misplaced under the series title 'theory out of bounds'. It is a difficult read - I abandoned it in French, and read the new English translation on a flight to Melbourne - but the complexity of thought and style is also difficult in English. Alliez is an extremely insightful and sophisticated thinker - perhaps one of the leading representatives of Deleuzean thought - and this account of familiar figures has some interesting and original interpretations of their work. But, in spite of the frequent references and footnotes, I found it hard to see where Deleuzean thought informed his methodology - indeed, it seemed to rely too heavily on Foucault, showing the historical formation of this conception of time, but not its contemporary power or interest. In terms of breadth and depth of scholarship, it is a model doctoral thesis (putting many English language doctorates to shame) - but it therefore might not be of interest to all readers. Readers without any Latin and Greek might find some parts of the book difficult. The part I found most rewarding was the early chapter on Aristotle's chrematistics: where time is associated with exchange, and a 'time off its hinges' emerges. This has been fundamental for my recent work. The other chapters move in differing directions - intensification, subjectivation as conceptions of time - but it is the second volume that promises to show the links between time and capital most clearly. I'm eagerly awaiting its publication. Phil
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