The Philosopher's Body, the Body of Philosophy: Variations on the Image Before and Beyond Gilbert Simondon

Abstract

The two sections that compose this short contribution aim, first,
to reflect on the relevance of a certain need for “visualization,”
understood as intrinsic to thought and knowledge, within the
process of representing the philosopher, at least in the Western geo–
historical context. Particular attention is given, not merely by way
of example, to the recent and gradual publication of an increasing
number of images of the French thinker Gilbert Antoine Barthélemy
Simondon (Saint–Étienne, 1924 – Palaiseau, 1989). The article then
turns to the possibility of translating complex philosophical notions
into graphic representations, once again starting from the “case”
of the philosophical system developed by Simondon, with specific
reference to his principal doctoral thesis, L’individuation à la lumière
des notions de forme et d’information. Through this double focus,
the contribution explores the relationship between philosophical
thought, visual representation, and the epistemic function of images.