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Ideas of Todd May, by Text

[American, fl. 2005, Professor at Clemson University, South Carolina.]

2006 Gilles Deleuze
2.05 p.43 For existentialists the present is empty without the pull of the future and weight of the past
     Full Idea: For the existential view of lived time, the present would be empty if it were not for the pull of the future and the weight of the past that give it its character.
     From: Todd May (Gilles Deleuze [2006], 2.05)
     A reaction: Bergson seems to be important in developing this idea, though I suspect that Kierkegaard is a source.
2.12 p.69 Deleuze relies on Spinoza (immanence), Bergson (duration), and difference (Nietzsche)
     Full Idea: The three tripods on which the philosophy of Deleuze stands are immanence (Spinoza), duration (Bergson), and the affirmation of difference (Nietzsche).
     From: Todd May (Gilles Deleuze [2006], 2.12)
     A reaction: [Just to begin sketching how continental philosophy sees its tradition].
4.02 p.118 Liberal theory starts from the governed, not from the governor
     Full Idea: For liberal theory, it is the individual to be governed, not the governor, who is the starting point.
     From: Todd May (Gilles Deleuze [2006], 4.02)
     A reaction: I'm inclined to see this as the single-handed achievement of Thomas Hobbes, who starts from the need of citizens to secure their contracts. Plato's society starts from entrepreneurs, but their need for a ruler seems a priori.