Experience and Empiricism

“This book will transform how we understand Deleuze’s relationship to empiricism. Offering a masterful close reading and a meticulous account of Deleuze’s interpretation of Hume, Russell Ford demonstrates how this interpretation intervened in the major debates among French philosophical circles in the first half of the twentieth century.” —Alan D. Schrift, author of Twentieth-Century French Philosophy: Key Themes and Thinkers

“Often absorbing, clear, illuminating, and rich, Experience and Empiricism treats complex philosophical matters with admirable deftness and subtlety.” —Mary Beth Mader, author of Sleights of Reason: Norm, Bisexuality, Development

“It is no exaggeration when I say that I wish I had written Experience and Empiricism. Russell Ford has reconstructed the historical context in which Deleuze emerged as a philosopher and an original thinker. But Ford has done more. On the basis of the reconstructed historical context, he provides a penetrating reading of Deleuze first book, on David Hume’s philosophy. Ford’s Experience and Empiricism is a must read for anyone interested in twentieth century French thought.” —Leonard Lawlor, author of Thinking through French Philosophy: The Being of the Question

“Ford not only offers a new interpretation of Deleuze’s first book on Hume, but he paints a compelling portrait of intellectual ferment of the post-war period in which it was written, and the influence that figures such as Alexandre Kojève, Jean Hyppolite, Alexandre Koyré, and Jean Wahl exerted on the young Deleuze. Ford's book will become the defining study of this early period of Deleuze’s career.” —Daniel W. Smith, author of Essays on Deleuze