Methodological Asymmetry of the Projects by G. Deleuze and M. DeLanda: From Metaphysics to Operationalization

Abstract

The article examines the epistemic asymmetry between G. Deleuze’s metaphysical project and its operational reconstruction undertaken by M. DeLanda. Based on an analysis of categorical transformations (plane of im-manence, “assemblage”, the virtual, diagram), the author demonstrates a fundamental difference between the epistemic strategies: while Deleuze designs the transcendental conditions of thought relying on heuristic meta-phors in science, then DeLanda translates his categories into the parametric language of nonlinear dynamics and complexity theory asserting materialist realism and the applied status of philosophical analysis. Methodo-logical asymmetry is qualified as the institutionalization of a dichotomy between a conceptual apparatus consti-tution and its subsequent operationalization. DeLanda’s adaptation, as shown in the article, enables the inte-gration of Deleuzian ontology into the discourse of philosophy of science offering an alternative both to classi-cal reductionism and to uncritical poststructuralism, yet it is conjugated with a narrowing of the original meta-physics critical potential. The conclusions of the article are relevant for the development of instrumentarium for the analysis of complex, emergent, and large-scale variable systems.