The work of Gilbert Simondon was hidden for fifty years by the two rollers that rolled the scope of "humanities", Marxism and Psychoanalysis. Thank you Editions Jérôme Millon (who edit other precious gems) to give us this very impressive thesis work, from 1958, Simondon. At that time and until 1968, the General Psychology was a certificate of psychology license (in Faculty of Letters) and was based on the study of the great philosophical texts .... (we were not in smarter or "best" psychologists, just maybe less put off by certain abstract problems) In "The individuation in light of notions of form and information", Simondon built, with all the subtleties of a freethinking, independent, very solidly fed all this tradition, but also with methodical mental personal requirement without flaw, a design that is both global and synthetic the question of the genesis of the individual. It is impossible to account for these five hundred pages in a few simple sentences. Each of us becomes both a singular being (and generally keen to this singularity) and also becomes simultaneously an individual which can be recognized by others. Simondon focuses primarily on dismantling piece by piece and step by step this double process of individuation (generic) and individualization (special). The study of mechanisms of perception is central. The attention is a matter of good will: if we accept to enter some concepts that Simondon was taken to forge his observations to develop and articulate his thoughts, then the intellectual adventure in which he takes us proves exciting. Reading the book product itself the effect of which he speaks: it proves nothing, he feels; his "formative" value lies in the form that gives information it offers and is inseparable. Other Simondon books are now available (at last!) And of course there is always the other great book "From the mode of existence of technical objects" already reissued several times! (Another comment seems to confuse the two ... in "Individuation in light of notions of form and information" is not really about technique ...)
