Foundation as DiffÃ©renciation

Elisa Pontini

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Chapter 8 Foundation as DiffÃ©renciation

In: Thinking on Unstable Ground: The Topology of Sense in Merab Mamardashvili

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Elisa Pontini

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 216â242

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004758759-010

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Abstract

This chapter examines whether Mamardashviliâs conception of foundation can be understood in terms of Deleuzeâs notion of diffÃ©renciation rather than as a deferred origin. Building on the previous chapterâs dialogue with Derrida, it asks whether the foundational ground â conceived as the topological relation between predicational and pre-predicational space â evaporates into the immanence of its performance, functioning only âin the moment whenâ an act of thought occurs. The analysis places Mamardashviliâs concepts of event, sense, repetition, and transversion in dialogue with Deleuzeâs accounts of time, the virtualâactual distinction, and the logic of sense.

The chapter argues that Mamardashviliâs understanding of the act of thought shares with Deleuze an emphasis on eventness, excess, and impermanence: thought is valid only as a punctual, performative occurrence that must be repeated anew. Yet Mamardashvili diverges from a plane of pure immanence through his insistence on transverted form as a stratifying mechanism that preserves an irreducible difference between topological depth and predicational surface. Foundation does not dissolve into simulacra but is syncretically objectified and concealed within phenomenal formations, demanding active âwalkingâ of its topology.

Finally, the chapter explores whether this performative structure entails an affirmative ethics akin to Spinozaâs as interpreted by Deleuze. While Mamardashvili affirms the ontological capacity expressed in each act of thought, he simultaneously grounds this affirmation in individual responsibility and dignity, sustaining a tension between immanence and transcendence, diffÃ©renciation and moral imperative â and resisting full alignment with Deleuzian immanence.

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Thinking on Unstable Ground: The Topology of Sense in Merab Mamardashvili

Series:Â Contemporary Russian Philosophy, Volume: 11

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004758759

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 16 Jun 2026

Subjects
- Philosophy
  - Continental Philosophy
  - Epistemology & Metaphysics

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Chapter 8 Foundation as DiffÃ©renciation

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Thinking on Unstable Ground: The Topology of Sense in Merab Mamardashvili

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