Abstraction

Summary

Dominique Pagani defines abstraction as the act of isolating in thought what, in reality, is not isolated: distinguishing without separating, wresting stability from the flux1. He contrasts good abstraction, which goes all the way and leads to the concrete, with the immediate abstract which, like Procrustes, imposes a measure on reality without mediation2. In his view, this operation is excellent in knowledge but terrifying when carried out in reality3. He sees an example of it in the Terror, the reign of abstract virtue, which he links to Rousseau's indeterminate conception of freedom4. For him, abstraction in power is the part that takes itself for the whole. His recurring formula, "there is no concrete except through the abstract", draws on astronomy and mathematical equations: with the eyes alone, one does not see that the earth moves5. The concrete, from concrescere, is the identity of a difference. He extends the notion to painting, abstract by essence since it abstracts from depth.

1. 1#5.2 ter FaceBookLive / Questions (2) suite à l'Atelier #5.26 Dec 2018 · 48:34
2. 2Hegel Plage 2/51 Feb 2016 · 48:18
3. 3#2.5 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?1 Aug 2017 · 56:17
4. 4P comme Peuple30 Dec 2014 · 11:40
5. 5#2.6 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?1 Aug 2017 · 0:00

Summary produced automatically from 25 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.