Theories of multiplicity: philosophical and theological conceptions of material and metaphysical entanglement

Philosophical and theological treatments of difference and relation are often limited to traditional discursive boundaries of substance metaphysics and transcendent causality. Eschewing the historic desire to categorize substance and doctrinal investments in cosmological mechanism, multiplicity theo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of philosophy and theology
Main Author: Crooks, Gabriel C. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2022
In: International journal of philosophy and theology
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Deleuze, Gilles 1925-1995 / Guattari, Félix 1930-1992 / Plurality / Theology
IxTheo Classification:FA Theology
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B materialist ontologies
B relational theologies
B Multiplicity
B Philosophical Theology
B poststructuralist critique of metaphysics
B ontologies of immanence
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Philosophical and theological treatments of difference and relation are often limited to traditional discursive boundaries of substance metaphysics and transcendent causality. Eschewing the historic desire to categorize substance and doctrinal investments in cosmological mechanism, multiplicity theory experiments with immanent and relational ontologies that are materially attentive and immersed in difference. Tracing the emergence of multiplicity and its theorizing across philosophical and theological registers, I begin with Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead’s conceptually significant turn of the century work. Noting both Bergson and Whitehead’s profound influence on Gilles Deleuze, I examine the appearance and development of multiplicity in Deleuze’s individual writings and his collaborative work with Felix Guattari. Seeking resonances in the more recently theological theorizations of multiplicity, I find that Whitehead and Deleuze surface as vital interlocutors for the relational and incarnational theologies put forth, respectively, by Catherine Keller and Laurel Schneider. Each concerned with theological formulations of embodied difference and divine relation, I suggest that both Keller and Schneider draw on theories of multiplicity to explore immanence and interdependence as ontological postures. I conclude that across philosophical and theological discourse diverse conceptions of multiplicity offer resources for alternative theorizations of complex difference and relation.
ISSN:2169-2335
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of philosophy and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/21692327.2022.2120530