Gilbert Simondon
Gilbert Simondon (FR) (1924-1989) is a philosopher interested in individuation and technology.
Gilbert Simondon [ciepfc.fr]
, a french philosopher, sees the individual as a process - through individuation rather than as fixed entity. Neither are matter or form fixed, as they too go through a process of development. The person then creates a sort of symbiotic developmental relation with its surrounding, both influencing each other in 'becoming'. Years ahead of his time, and understandings in science, Simondon published his thoughts in L’individu et sa genese physico-biologique (The Individual and its Physico-Biological Individuation, 1964)
He wrote a classic on the philosophy of technology, Du mode d'existence des objets techniques (On the mode of existence of technical objects, 1958), which is still relevant today, specially about environmentalism. It discusses the complex relations involving environment and technology based on his thoughts. Simondonian concepts, such as concretization and associated milieu, can shed some light on an interesting view of environment and technology apart from a simplistic and reductionistic approach based on pollution and resources.
A student of philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem, Martial Guéroult, and phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Simondon's theory of individuation had a major influence on Gilles Deleuze's work.
V2_, published Simondon's essay Technical Individualization in 2007 Interact or Die!
Links
A blog-archive on Simondon: Fractal Ontology.
The Individual and its Physico-Biological Individuation [pdf]
On the mode of existence of technical objects [part1, pdf]
