Disrupting Exchange: Thinking and Understanding unicity in light of overcoming of the particular/universal dualism as proposed in Deleuze's Difference and Repetition

Abstract

In this paper I engage the problem of thinking individual things insofar as they are unique, uncommon, and unlike others. Specifically, I explore the theme of unicity by analyzing the implications of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s call to overcome the particular/universal distinction. I highlight how a concern for unicity qua discontinuous non-commonality presents a fundamentally different problem for thought than the particular/universal dualism can respond to. In that light, I show how Deleuze’s call against this dualism can be read as providing an alternative model for thinking unicity. By opposing a focus on non-exchangeability of individuals in this model to a focus on exchangeability in the particular/universal dualism, I show that Deleuze’s main contribution to addressing the problem of unicity does not require intensive engagement with his entire philosophical framework. Rather, its strength lies in a minimal interpretation wherein non-exchangeability of individuals demands that they be thought in their singular uniqueness and non-commonality.