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Oxford Academy Dandridge/hansen

A2 Utopianism

A2 Utopianism
1. FIAT IS UTOPIAN They rely on the magical wand o iat to !e a!le to r"n their A irmati#e$ that%s pretty "topian. 2. &'T&N( T)& A*T&+NATI,& O"r alternati#e is a!o"t p"shing the system toward a limit. -e don%t pretend to e#er reach that limit or "se iat to ma.e o"r alternati#e possi!le. The #ery act o .riti.ing is eno"gh. /. O"r 0 is e1pressly a political acti#ity that attempts to co"nteract o"r time or the !ene it o the "t"re. It is only "topian inso ar as it attempts to create new possi!ilities and co"nteract the a"thoritarian implications o the same. Patton, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia, 2 22, !Paul, Deleuze and the Political, p" #$
Although not a political philosopher in the sense that he %elongs to the disciplinary genre, Deleu&e has long held the vie' that philosophy is a political activity" (his %ecomes explicit in the final product of his partnership 'ith )uattari, What Is Philosophy? *+,,-., 'here the authors endo' philosophy 'ith a political vocation" (hey define philosophy as the creation of /untimely0 concepts in 1iet&sche0s sense of this term, namely /acting counter to our time, and there%y acting on our time and, let us hope, for the %enefit of a time to come0 *1iet&sche +,2#3 essay 2, /On the Uses and Disadvantages of 4istory for 5ife0, fore'ord." (hey argue that philosophy should %e /utopian0 in the sense of contri%uting to the emergence of ne' forms of individual and collective identity, or as they put it, summoning forth /a ne' earth and a people that does not yet exist0 *Deleu&e and )uattari +,,-3+ 2." (heir use of the term /utopia0 must %e treated 'ith caution since they re6ect authoritarian or transcendent utopias in favour of those that are immanent, revolutionary and li%ertarian" 7t is 'ith this relation to utopia, they argue, /that philosophy %ecomes political and ta8es the criticism of its o'n time to its highest point0 *Deleu&e and )uattari +,,-3,,."

3. P+&F&+ OU+ &,I(&N4& O"rs is the only e#idence in the ro"nd that spea.s speci ically to the a"thorial !ase we are citing. Always pre er the most speci ic e#idence !eca"se it ma.es or more in depth$ ed"cational de!ates. 5. *IN0 TU+N The nat"re o o"r alternati#e ma.es emancipatory politics more accessi!le !y opening "p rhi6omatic spaces. This sol#es !ac. their arg"ment. 9" (heir conservative counter:; is utopian" (oday0s mass changes necessitate revolutionary modes of thought, and to thin8 other'ise leaves the real 'orld %ehind"
7"attari, practicing psychoanalyst at 5a <orde clinic, +,89 !=>lix, Soft Subversions, edited %y Sylv?re 5otringer, P" 2@$ Utopia, today, is to %elieve that current societies 'ill %e a%le to continue along on their merry little 'ay 'ithout ma6or upheavals" Social modes of organi&ation that prevail today on earth are not holding up, literally and figuratively" 4istory is gripped %y cra&y parameters3 demography, energy, the technological:scientific explosion, pollution, the arms race"""" (he earth is deterritoriali&ing itself at top speed" (he true utopians are conservatives of all shapes and si&es 'ho 'ould li8e for this Ato hold up all the same,B to return to yesterday and the day %efore yesterday" Chat is terrifying is our lac8 of collective imagination in a 'orld that has reached such a %oiling point, our myopia %efore all the Amolecular revolutionsB 'hich 8eep pulling the rug out from under us, at an accelerated pace"

:. NO I;PA4T They don%t artic"lating an o ensi#e reason why "topianism is !ad. &#en i they win their Utopian !ad arg"ments$ o"r 0 still o"tweighs. 4ross<apply impact calc"l"s.

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Oxford Academy Dandridge/hansen

A2 Utopianism

=. O"r 0riti. is the amalgam o theory and practice in the !est way possi!le> acting on o"r own !ehal represents the "nrepresenta!le and opens "p new possi!ilities or change. Patton, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia, 2 22, !Paul, Deleuze and the Political, p" @$
7n reply, Deleu&e points to the emergence of a ne' conception of the relationships %et'een theory and practice in his o'n 'or8 'ith )uattari as 'ell as in =oucault0s 'ritings3 a conception that understands these relationships in a partial and fragmentary manner, not as determinate relationships %et'een /theory0 understood as a totality and /practice0 understood as an eDually unified process of the application or implementation of theory, %ut as /a system of relays 'ithinEa multiplicity of parts that are %oth theoretical and practical0 *=oucault +,FF%32 9." (he conception of theory as a relay of practice stands in mar8ed contrast to the idea that the intellectual represents the vanguard of a proletarian movement 'hich em%odies the forces of social change" 9 7t is closer to the ideal expressed %y 1iet&sche in /Schopenhauer as Gducator0 'hen he dra's a distinction %et'een academic philosophers in the service of the State and true philosophers 'ho must remain /private thin8ers0 *1iet&sche +,2#3 essay #, /Schopenhauer as Gducator0, sections F and 2." Sartre, 'hom Deleu&e admired during his youth and regarded as an important influence, 'as a modern paradigm of the private thin8er 'ho spo8e and acted on his o'n %ehalf rather than as the representative of a political party or social class" Such thin8ers, Deleu&e 'rote, see8 to align themselves 'ith the unrepresenta%le forces that introduce disorder and a dose of permanent revolution into political and social life *Deleu&e +,2@32#-.F /Private0 is perhaps not the %est term to descri%e such thin8ers, since it suggests isolation from social forces and social movements 'hen, for Deleu&e, these are essential conditions of the activity of thin8ing" 8. NO ?+I7)T*IN&

they ne#er de ine what is@is not "topian. This means their arg"ments

lin. !ac. to them.


12. NO *IN0

O"r alternati#e is practical> analy6ing the orms o desire and their political implications "tili6es a means to li!eration. O"rs is only a response to a pro!lem posed$ and the test o o"r 0riti. determines the #al"e o the A irmati#e.
Patton, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia, 2 22, !Paul, Deleuze and the Political, p" @:9$ =oucault0s Discipline and Punish provides an example of this /private0 use of reason, to the extent that this %oo8 might %e regarded as a theoretical relay of the political activity underta8en %y the )7P" Similarly, Deleu&e and )uattari0s Anti-Oedipus might %e understood as a theoretical relay of practical resistance to the role of psychoanalysis in the repression of potentially revolutionary expressions of desire" (he aim of their /schi&oanalysis0 is practical rather than theoretical3 the analysis of the forms of unconscious desire and their political investments is conceived as a means to the /li%eration0 or un%loc8ing of the creative or /schi&o0 processes present in a given social field" At the same time, 'ith regard to the other side of the relation %et'een theory and practice descri%ed a%ove, Deleu&e does not hesitate to descri%e Anti-Oedipus as /from %eginning to end a %oo8 of political philosophy0 *Deleu&e +,,@%3+F ." (his %oo8 exemplifies his vie', 'hich 'e discuss in Hhapter +, that philosophy is and should %e a response to pro%lems that are posed outside of the academy" =or Deleu&e, such pro%lems are a crucial ena%ling condition of creativity in thought" (he idea that philosophy creates concepts that are insepara%le from a form of life and mode of activity points to a constant dimension of Deleu&e0s conception of thought and philosophy" 7t implies that the test of these concepts is ultimately pragmatic3 in the end, their value is determined %y the uses to 'hich they can %e put, outside as 'ell as 'ithin philosophy"

11. TU+N -itho"t political ontology there wo"ld !e no trans ormati#e potential. Only thro"gh #iewing the ethical commitments in#ol#ed can we s"mmon orth new &arths.
Patton, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia, 2 22, !Paul, Deleuze and the Political, p" ,$ A Thousand Plateaus is not political philosophy in the sense that it provides tools for the 6ustification or critiDue of political institutions and processes" Iather, it is a political ontology that provides tools to descri%e transformative, creative or deterritorialising forces and movements" At one point the authors suggest that politics alone provides the hori&on to'ards 'hich all their efforts are directed3 /%efore %eing there is polities0

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Oxford Academy Dandridge/hansen

A2 Utopianism

*Deleu&e and )uattari +,2F32-,." (his ontology is an ethics in the sense that, as for Spino&a, normative commitments are immanent to their philosophy of nature as 'ell as their social ontology", 7n all cases, it presents a 'orld understood as a complex of interconnected assem%lages *earth, territory, forms of deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation., 'here the overriding norm is that of deterritorialisation" 7t is %ecause they conceive of philosophy as an inherently political activity that What Is Philosophy? does not have a separate section devoted to the political" Chen they descri%e philosophy as Utopian in the sense that it summons forth ne' earths and ne' peoples, Deleu&e and )uattari align it 'ith the creative aspect of this complex process of reterritorialisation and deterritorialisation" <y their account, philosophy is utopian in the sense that it opens up the possi%ility of ne' forms of individual and collective identity, there%y effecting the a%solute deterritorialisation of the present in thought"+

12. T&+;INA**A NON<UNIBU& People ha#e !een r"nning these so<called Utopian arg"ments or a while now$ and I%#e yet to see their impacts. ;a.e them indicate why o"r 0riti. is "niC"ely "topian or will p"sh "s o#er the !rin..

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