May 10, 1956

Leibniz can consider that he has re-grounded absolute knowledge, the universal science, which utilizes the method of a game of principles that gives us reason itself. This allows us to comprehend on of Leibniz’s fundamental texts: “On the Radical Origination of Things.” He poses two questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? and Why is there this rather than something else? These will serve as the guidelines for solving all the problems in the world. The first question corresponds to the domain essences governed by the principle of identity The second question corresponds to the domain of existences governed by the principle of sufficient reason For Leibniz, to do philosophy is to pose these two fundamental questions.

Seminar Introduction

Qu’est-ce que fonder? was the title of a “cours hypokhâgne” that Deleuze gave at the Lycée Louis le Grand in Paris during the 1955-1956 academic year. The hypokhâgne is the first year course, followed by khâgne, of the two-year academic cycle in France (Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles) whose aim is to prepare high school students for the entrance competition of the École normale supérieure in Paris. The text is based on the notes of one of the students in the course, Pierre Lefebvre.

An English translation of the course, entitled What is Grounding?, translated by Arjen Kleinherenbrink and edited by Tony Yanick, Jason Adams, and Mohammad Salemy, is available online at the webpage for The New Centre for Research and Practice, tripleampersand.org/books.

English Translation

Edited

What is Grounding?

Hypokhâgne course, Lycée Louis le Grand, 1955-1956

 

What is Grounding
Deleuze while on vacation in Normandy and Brittany in the 1950s. Photograph by Jacqueline Duhême and Jean Pierre Bamberger.

 

An English translation of “What is Grounding,” translated, introduced, and annotated by Arjen Kleinherenbrink, and edited by Tony Yanick, Jason Adams, and Mohammad Salemy, is available at the website for The New Centre for Research and Practice, tripleampersand.org/books, and by clicking on the pdf link above.

Notes

For archival purposes, this Seminar and lecture were added to the site in February 2020 and updated in April 2020 and October 2024.