Gilbert Simondon (French: [simɔ̃dɔ̃];
2 October 1924 – 7 February 1989) was a
French philosopher best known for his theory
of individuation, a major source of inspiration
for Gilles Deleuze and Bernard Stiegler.
== Career ==
Born in Saint-Étienne, Simondon was a student
of philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem,
philosopher Martial Guéroult, and phenomenologist
Maurice Merleau-Ponty.
He studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
and the Sorbonne.
He defended his doctoral dissertations in
1958 at the University of Paris.
His main thesis, L'individuation à la lumière
des notions de Forme et d'Information (Individuation
in the light of the notions of Form and Information),
was published in two parts, the first in 1964
under the title L'individu et sa génèse
physico-biologique (Individuation and its
physical-biological genesis) at the Presses
Universitaires de France, while it is only
in 1989 that Aubier published the second part,
L'individuation psychique et collective (Psychic
and collective individuation).
While his main thesis, which laid the foundations
of his thinking, was not widely read until
it was commented upon by Gilles Deleuze and,
more recently, Bruno Latour and Bernard Stiegler,
his complementary thesis, Du mode d'existence
des objets techniques (On the mode of existence
of technical objects) was published by Aubier
immediately after being completed (in 1958)
and had an instant impact on a wide audience.
It was only in 2005 that Jérôme Millon published
a complete edition of the main thesis.
== Individuation and technology ==
In L'individuation psychique et collective,
Simondon developed a theory of individual
and collective individuation, in which the
individual subject is considered as an effect
of individuation, rather than as a cause.
Thus the individual atom is replaced by the
neverending process of individuation.
Simondon also conceived of "pre-individual
fields" as the funds making individuation
itself possible.
Individuation is an always incomplete process,
always leaving a "pre-individual" left-over,
itself making possible future individuations.
Furthermore, individuation always creates
both an individual and a collective subject,
which individuate themselves together.
Simondon criticized Norbert Wiener's theory
of cybernetics, arguing that "Right from the
start, Cybernetics has accepted what all theory
of technology must refuse: a classification
of technological objects conducted by means
of established criteria and following genera
and species."
Simondon aimed to overcome the shortcomings
of cybernetics by developing a "general phenomenology"
of machines.
== Influence ==
Simondon's theory of individuation through
transduction in a metastable environment was
an important influence on the thought of Gilles
Deleuze, whose Différence et répétition
(1968), Logique du sens
(1969) and L'île déserte (2002) make explicit
reference to Simondon's work.
Gilbert Simondon: une pensée de l'individuation
et de la technique (1994), the proceedings
of the first conference devoted to Simondon's
work, further charts his influence on such
thinkers as François Laruelle, Gilles Châtelet,
Anne Fagot-Largeau, Yves Deforge, René Thom,
and Bernard Stiegler (the latter having placed
Simondon's theory of individuation at the
very heart of his ongoing and multi-volume
philosophical project).
Another contributor to Gilbert Simondon: une
pensée de l'individuation et de la technique,
Simondon's friend John Hart, was the instigator
of the very first translation—from French
into English c.1980—of Simondon's work (this
at University of Western Ontario in Canada
where Hart had founded both a Department of
Computer Science and a Simondon-inspired network:
the ATN, or Audio Tactile Network in 1964).
Currently, Simondon can be seen as a major
influence on the work of such scholars as
Paolo Virno, Jean-Hugues Barthélémy, Thierry
Bardini, Luciana Parisi, Brian Massumi, Adrian
Mackenzie, Muriel Combes, Carl Mitcham, Andrew
Feenberg, Isabelle Stengers, Thomas LaMarre,
Bruno Latour and Anne Sauvagnargues.
== Bibliography ==
=== Primary literature ===
Du mode d'existence des objets techniques
(Méot, 1958; second ed.
Paris: Aubier, 1989).
L'individu et sa genèse physico-biologique
(l'individuation à la lumière des notions
de forme et d'information) (Paris: PUF, 1964;
second ed.
J.Millon, coll.
Krisis, 1995).
L'individuation psychique et collective (Paris,
Aubier, 1989; reprinted in 2007 with a preface
by Bernard Stiegler).Posthumous publications
L’Invention dans les techniques, Cours et
conferences (Éd. du Seuil, coll.
"Traces écrites").
L’Individuation à la lumière des notions
de forme et d’information (Jérôme Millon,
coll.
Krisis).
Cours sur la perception (1964–1965), Préface
de Renaud Barbaras (Editions de La Tansparence).
Imagination et invention (1965–1966) (Editions
de La Transparence, 2008).
Communication et Information.
Cours et Conférences (Éditions de La Transparence,
2010).
Sur la technique (P.U.F., 2014).
Sur la psychologie (P.U.F., 2015).
Sur la philosophie (P.U.F., 2016).English
translations
"Technical Mentality," trans.
Arne De Boever, Parrhesia 07 (2009): 7-27
[1].
"Techno Aesthetics," trans.
Arne De Boever, Parrhesia 14 (2012): 1-8 [2].
"Technical Individualization," in Joke Brouwer
& Arjen Mulder (eds.), Interact or Die!
(Rotterdam: NAi, 2007).
"The Essence of Technicity," trans.
Ninian Mellamphy, Dan Mellamphy & Nandita
Biswas Mellamphy, Deleuze Studies 5 (11.11.2011):
406-424,[2].
"The Genesis of the Individual," in Jonathan
Crary & Sanford Kwinter (eds.), Incorporations
(New York: Zone Books, 1992): 297–319.
"The Position of the Problem of Ontogenesis,"
trans.
Gregory Flanders, Parrhesia 07 (2009): 4-16.
[3].
"The Limits of Human Progress," trans Sean
Cubitt, Cultural Politics, 8(2) (2010): 229-36.Cultural
Politics, 8(2) (2010): 229-36
Two Lessons on Animal and Man (Minneapolis:
Univocal Publishing, 2012) [4].
On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects
(Minneapolis: Univocal Publishing, 2016) [5].
Also see the Online translations section (below)
for unpublished translations.
=== Secondary literature ===
Alloa, Emmanuel, "Prégnances du devenir.
Simondon et les images", in Critique 816 (2015):
356 - 371 (in French).
Alloa, Emmanuel & Judith Michalet, "Differences
in Becoming.
Gilbert Simondon and Gilles Deleuze on Individuation"
in Philosophy Today vol. 61 no.
3 (2017): 475-502..
Bardin, Andrea, "Philosophy as Political Technē:
The Tradition of Invention in Simondon’s
Political Thought" Contemporary Political
Theory, 2018.
Bardin, Andrea, Epistemology and Political
Philosophy in Gilbert Simondon.
Individuation, Technics, Social Systems (Springer,
2015).
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Life and Technology:
An Inquiry Into and Beyond Simondon (tr.
B. Norman, Meson Press, 2015).
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Simondon (Paris:
Les Belles Lettres, 2014).
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues (dir.), Cahiers
Simondon N° 1 to 6 (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2009-2015).
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, "Individuation
and Knowledge.
The refutation of idealism in Simondon's Heritage
in France", translated by M. Hayward and A.
De Boever, SubStance, Special Issue "Gilbert
Simondon", Issue 129, Vol. 41, N°3, 2012.
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, "What new Humanism
today ?", translated by Chris Turner, Cultural
Politics, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Bergs Publishers,
2010.
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, "Du mort qui saisit
le vif.
Simondonian ontology today", trans.
Justin Clemens, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 28-35.
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Simondon ou l'encyclopédisme
génétique (Paris: Presses Universitaires
de France, 2008)
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Penser l'individuation.
Simondon et la philosophie de la nature (Paris:
L'Harmattan, 2005). (in French).
Barthélémy, Jean-Hugues, Penser la connaissance
et la technique après Simondon (Paris: L'Harmattan,
2005). (in French).
Bidet, Alexandra, Macé, Marielle.
"S'individuer, s'émanciper, risquer un style
(autour de Simondon)", Revue du Mauss, n°38
- Emancipation, subjectivation, individuation.
Psychanalyse, philosophie et science sociale,
La Découverte, 2011, pp. 269–284.
Bontems, Vincent (dir.), Gilbert Simondon
ou l'invention du futur (Paris: Klincksieck,
2016).
Caponi, Saverio, Gilbert Simondon.
La tecnica e la vita, Lulu.com, 2010.
Carrozzini, Giovanni, Gilbert Simondon filosofo
della mentalité technique, Mimesis, Milano
2011.
Carrozzini, Giovanni, Gilbert Simondon: per
un'assiomatica dei saperi.
Dall'"ontologia dell'individuo" alla filosofia
della tecnologia, Manni, San Cesario di Lecce
2006
Chabot, Pascal, La philosophie de Simondon
(Paris, Vrin, 2003).
(English translation : "The philosophy of
Simondon.Between technology and individuation",
Bloomsbury, 2013)
Combes, Muriel, Gilbert Simondon and the Philosophy
of the Transindividual, translated by Thomas
LaMarre, MIT Press 2013 (originally published
in French: Simondon, Individu et collectivité,
Presses Universitaires de France 1999)
Critique no.
816 (2015), Special Issue on Gilbert Simondon,
with texts by Elie During, Emmanuel Alloa,
Irlande Saurin, Anne Sauvegnargues and Gilbert
Simondon [6]
Deleuze, Gilles, "On Gilbert Simondon," in
Desert Islands and Other Texts, 1953–1974
(Los Angeles & New York: Semiotext(e), 2004):
86–9.
ISBN 1-58435-018-0
De Boever, Murray, Roffe & Ashley (eds.),
Gilbert Simondon: Being and Technology (Edinburgh
University Press, hardback: 2012; paperback:
March 2013).
Dumouchel, Paul, "Gilbert Simondon's Plea
for a Philosophy of Technology," in The Politics
of Knowledge (Bloomington & Indianapolis:
Indiana University Press, 1995): 255-71.
ISBN 0-253-20940-4.
During, Elie, Simondon au pied du mur. (in
French).
Hottois, Gilbert, Simondon et la philosophie
de la culture technique (Brussels: De Boeck,
1992). (in French).
Mackenzie, Adrian, Transductions: Bodies and
Machines at Speed (Continuum Press, 2002).
ISBN 0-8264-5883-1
Massumi, Brian, Technical Mentality" Revisited:
Brian Massumi on Gilbert Simondon, Parrhesia
7 (2009): 36-45.
Mills, Simon, Gilbert Simondon - Information,
Technology and Media (Rowman and Littlefield,
2016).
Morizot, Baptiste, Pour une théorie de la
rencontre.
Hasard et individuation chez Gilbert Simondon
(Paris: Vrin, 2016; forward by Jean-Hugues
Barthélémy).
Revue philosophique de la France et de l'étranger,
Gilbert Simondon, n°3/2006.
Scott, David, Gilbert Simondon's Psychic and
Collective Individuation (Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2014).
Stiegler, Bernard, Acting Out (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 2009).
Stiegler, Bernard, The Theater of Individuation:
Phase-shift and Resolution in Simondon and
Heidegger, trans.
Kristina Lebedeva, Parrhesia 7 (2009): 46-57.
Stiegler, Bernard, Technics and Time, 1: The
Fault of Epimetheus (Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 1998).
Stiegler, Bernard, Temps et individuation
technique, psychique, et collective dans l’oeuvre
de Simondon. (in French).
Thibault, Ghislain, Filming Simondon: The
National Film Board, Education, and Humanism
, Canadian Journal of Film Studies, vol. 26
n°1/2017, pp. 1-23 [7]
Thibault, Ghislain and Mark Hayward, Understanding
Machines: A History of Canadian Mechanology
, Canadian Journal of Communication, vol.
42 n°3/2017 [8]
Toscano, Alberto, "Technical Culture and the
Limits of Interaction: A Note on Simondon,"
in Joke Brouwer & Arjen Mulder (eds.), Interact
or Die!
(Rotterdam: NAi, 2007): 198-205.
Virno, Paolo, Angels and the General Intellect:
Individuation in Duns Scotus and Gilbert Simondon,
Parrhesia 7 (2009): 58-67.
== Film ==
François Lagarde and Pascal Chabot have made
a movie on Simondon: Simondon of the Desert
(english translation) with Anne Fagot-Largeault,
Arne De Boever, Dominique Lecourt, Gilbert
Hottois, Giovanni Carrozzini, Jean-Hugues
Barthélémy, Jean Clottes, and music by Jean-Luc
Guillonet.
== References ==
== External links ==
=== Online translations ===
Save the Technical Object, link to PDF file
of unpublished 2013 translation.
MEOT / METO, link to PDF file of unpublished
2010 translation.
Also see the English translations section
(above) for published translations.
=== Other links ===
The Gilbert Simondon issue of Parrhesia
Filmed interview of Gilbert Simondon on the
subject of mechanology, 1968 (in French).
On Gilbert Simondon's Unified Theory of Technics
and Technology, by François Laruelle
Autour de Simondon: List of articles about
Simondon, by the revue online Appareil (in
French).
Sissel-Hoel and Van-der-Tuin on Simondon's
link to Ernst Cassirer
Gilbert Simondon Biography by Nathalie Simondon
"Simondon au pied du mur" by Elie During (in
French).
Mode of Existence, English translation.
On the Essence of Technicity.
Simondon biography
List of articles about Simondon (in French).
Online Issue on Simondon, by Jean-Hugues Barthélémy
(dir.)).
"Simondon Week" on TheFunambulist.net.
"Penser l'école avec Gilbert Simondon" (in
French).
CIDES (Centre International des Études Simondoniennes)
a.k.a. ICSS (International Center for Simondon
Studies)
Conference-video on Gilbert Simondon and the
New Enlightenment (in French).
Simondon at Monoskop.org, with extensive bibliography.
A short list of Gilbert Simondon's vocabulary
A research project (and book in preparation)
on the relationship between Gilbert Simondon,
mechanology and Canadian intellectuals
