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Book Review of Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy by Manuel Delanda

Delanda, Manuel. Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy. New York: Continuum, 2002.

Manuel Delanda is not the least controversial of Deleuzians. His earlier book A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History attempted a synthesis of Gilles Deleuze, historian Fernand Braudel, and non-linear dynamics and, while a fascinating read, it still leaves something to be desired. In his latest book Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy (hereafter referred to as Intensive Science) Delanda again attempts a synthesis, but this time without the history. Essentially, Delanda looks for resonances between Deleuze’s ontology and epistemology and recent discoveries which have been made independently in systems theory, complexity theory, and non-linear dynamics. A book written for both no one and everyone, philosophers and scientists alike, Intensive Science assumes nothing, starts from the beginning, and makes the reader feel comfortable with the concepts before moving on. Among it and all the other works it cites, Intensive Science is most likely the easiest read.

One might attempt to compare Deleuze scholarship with Nietzsche scholarship. In this case, Delanda’s Deleuze is closer to Kaufmann’s Nietzsche than it is to Bataille’s. That is to say, the Deleuze presented by Delanda is recognizable, even if his fingernails are trimmed. Delanda deftly juggles some of Deleuze’s most impenetrable texts, such as Logic of Sense, Difference and Repetition, and A Thousand Plateaus without batting an eye. Overall, Delanda’s analysis is both illuminating and creative. This book is highly recommended, even (especially) for those who are not familiar with anything I’ve talked about above.