Dylan Vaughan

This article reinterprets Jean-François Lyotard's informational-energetic materialism through a constructive comparison with Denis Diderot's eighteenth-century materialism, with the goal of demonstrating that Lyotard's materialism supports a positive, speculative use of metaphysics rather than a merely critical one. I argue that, beneath their different idioms, both develop a de-substantialist monism in which necessity and chance are co-constitutive, producing materialisms in which non-teleological material processes are governed by blind law yet exposed to cosmological (and "cosmolocal") chance. I then extend these metaphysical dynamics to their respective philosophies of mind, foregrounding their shared commitment to the materiality of the mind, the primacy of memory, and the aleatory event of thought. The result is a reframing of several familiar Lyotardian themes-including infantia and Nachträglichkeit-as well as a clarified view of the roles of both Diderot and speculative metaphysics within Lyotard's overall philosophical trajectory.

Este artículo reinterpreta el materialismo informativo-energético de Jean-François Lyotard mediante una comparación constructiva con el materialismo del siglo XVIII de Denis Diderot, con el objetivo de demostrar que el materialismo de Lyotard sustenta un uso positivo y especulativo de la metafísica, en lugar de uno meramente crítico. Sostengo que, con sus diferentes idiomas, ambos desarrollan un monismo desubstancialista en el que la necesidad y el azar son co-constitutivos y producen materialismos en los que los procesos materiales no teleológicos se rigen por una ley ciega, pero están expuestos al azar cosmológico (y «cosmolocal»). A continuación, extiendo estas dinámicas metafísicas a sus respectivas filosofías de la mente, poniendo de relieve su compromiso compartido con la materialidad de la mente, la primacía de la memoria y el acontecimiento aleatorio del pensamiento. El resultado es un replanteamiento de varios temas lyotardianos familiares —como infantia y Nachträglichkeit—, así como una visión clarificada de los papeles tanto de Diderot como de la metafísica especulativa dentro de la trayectoria filosófica general de Lyotard.

Abstract:The central inquiry of this article concerns the ethical orientation within post-structuralism, specifically questioning its potential affinity with deontology. While the “philosophers of difference” offer divergent perspectives on the doctrine of judgment, Jacques Derrida folds it within Deconstruction as a nomo-aporetic transcendental horizon. To understand this operation and its potential ethical significance, I suggest Jean-François Lyotard offers the best counter-model with which to compare against Derrida’s. Amongst their direct and indirect exchanges with each other is a dialogue concerning the law and its fundamental ground. Through their respective readings of Kafka – Derrida’s reading of “Before the Law” and Lyotard’s reading of “In the Penal Colony” – both attempt to delineate how the specific nature of the ground of the law determines the way in which an individual becomes subject to the law. Despite the enigmatic nature of their discourses, their comparison reveals converging and diverging trajectories in their ethical reflections as they push toward thinking the limits of lawfulness. Through such a comparative study of their texts, this exploration aims to unveil the shared fugitive vector of their ethical contemplations within the post-structuralist framework.