Praxis Seminar: Research Colloquium in Practical Philosophy (Lisbon), Session 15

[Praxis-CFUL]

Praxis Seminar — Research Colloquium in Practical Philosophy

Practical Philosophy Research Group
Centre of Philosophy - University of Lisbon (Praxis-CFUL)

Session 15 - 29 April 2025, 17h00 (Lisbon Time - GMT+1)

Ricardo Mendoza-Canales (Praxis-CFUL, University of Lisbon)

What Is An Act of Resistance?

Sala Mattos Romão (Room C201.J – Department of Philosophy)

School of Arts and Humanities - University of Lisbon

Abstract

In his conference “What Is the Creative Act?,” Gilles Deleuze defines the work of art as counter-information, closely linking artistic creation with the act of resistance. Both, he argues, short-circuit established positions and hegemonic discourses propagated by systems of communication and information. In this paper, I argue that Gilbert Simondon operates as a kind of gravitational force in Deleuze’s formulation—an invisible yet active presence whose influence has remained largely unacknowledged. To unpack the enigma of Deleuze’s definition, I proceed in three steps. First, I offer a close reading of the conference to trace the train of thought that binds together the creative act, the work of art, and the act resistance as counter-information. Second, I turn to Giorgio Agamben’s commentary on the conference to examine his interpretation of resistance as inoperativity, focusing in particular on his brief but suggestive reference to Simondon. Finally, I return to Simondon’s cybernetics-inspired account of signification. For Simondon, resistance involves the significative inscription of action and emotion within the broader, reticular structure of the transindividual—a form of signification capable of resonating collectively across time. Any human act that expresses itself creatively through material concretion carries within it a potentiality capable of continuing to transform—through resonance—both the individual and their milieu. I conclude by suggesting that Deleuze’s definition of the work of art as an act of resistance implicitly relies on Simondon’s philosophical framework—particularly his account of ontogenesis as a fundamentally informational process.

Join us! All our sessions are free attendance and open to the public. Everybody is welcome!
More information about this and other Praxis' events: https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/praxis/events/praxis-seminar-2024-2025/ 
Contact: c.fil...@letras.ulisboa.pt    

This event is funded by Portuguese national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the project UIDB/00310/2023.

Praxis-CFUL

https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/praxis/  

Practical Philosophy Research Group

Centro de Filosofia - Universidade de Lisboa

Alameda da Universidade

1600-214 Lisboa

Portugal