The Immanent Transcendence of Experience: A “James-Deleuzian” Approach

This article takes the relationship between a priori and experience as its perspective to examine the intellectual interaction between William James and Gilles Deleuze, exploring how the former's radical empiricism and the latter's transcendental empiricism can be integrated into a unique solution that achieves transcendence within experience. They understand the process of experience as a creative activity based on the principle of immanence and share a series of strategies for achieving immanent transcendence. Based on rejecting various forms of dualism, rationalism, and absolutism, they share an experimentalist method, emphasizing that the immanent transcendent must be the most creative experimenter, must immerse themselves in the flow of experience, actively encounter events, and boldly create relationships. The dialogue between Deleuze and James not only demonstrates a possible consensus but also provides an inviting platform for further interaction between pragmatism and French thought.