Review by Choice Review
Peden (Australian National Univ.) offers an important book that seeks to challenge the dominant narrative that 20th-century French philosophy was in large part a series of responses to developments in post-Kantian German philosophy. Instead, he suggests, one can see various French philosophers appealing to Spinoza and rationalism in an explicit rebuke of phenomenology. In so doing, Peden treats in significant detail the work of several philosophers largely overlooked in Anglophone philosophy, with chapters on Jean Cavaillès, Martial Gueroult, Ferdinand Alquié, and Jean-Toussaint Desanti. In the second half of his book, Peden discusses two philosophers whose work is better known--Louis Althusser and Gilles Deleuze--but his focus on Spinozist rationalism produces novel interpretations of both. Though many may find Peden's narrative a bit reductive at times and some no doubt will question the extent to which he sees Heidegger as a major influence on Deleuze, philosophers and intellectual historians will find that this carefully researched book offers much to learn. An important acquisition for academic libraries building collections in 20th-century European philosophy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. --Alan D. Schrift, Grinnell College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
