Lara, A. 2015. Teorías afectivas vintage. Apuntes sobre Deleuze, Bergson y Whitehead. Cinta moebio 52: 17-36

PDF | HTML

Vintage affective theories. Notes on Deleuze, Bergson and Whitehead

Dr. Ali Lara (alara@gc.cuny.edu) Sociology Department, City University of New York (New York, USA)

Abstract

The ‘Affective Turn’ has generated a change in the production of knowledge based on certain philosophical trends recognized as ‘process philosophies’. Giles Deleuze, Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead are some exponents of those philosophies that have strongly influenced over the affect studies within social sciences. Their thinking has been even a condition of possibility for the current ‘Affective Turn’. I will start this paper by arguing that these three authors of the process philosophies have shared a source of inspiration in the work of Baruch Spinoza. Later, I will present the ideas of Deleuze, Bergson and Whitehead that have been taken up –and recycled- by contemporary affect theorists. I will exemplify each case with a recent study from what I recognize as ‘vintage affective theories’. I conclude with some reflections on the probabilities and improbabilities offered by this return to the process philosophy in affect studies developed by social sciences.

Key words: affective turn, vintage theories, process philosophies, Deleuze, Bergson, Whitehead