Inertia

Summary

Dominique Pagani characterizes inertia by the absence of desire: what is inert is never beyond itself, and its movement can only come from outside1. He links it to the principle of inertia conceived by Galileo and formulated by Descartes, according to which a body subject to no force stays at rest or keeps moving in a uniform straight line2. In post-Galilean nature, inertia is the rule and living things are the exception3. He also takes up the Freudian axiom that inert matter comes before living matter, and he gives the example of a sleeping lion as a return to inertia. In the same way, the organism tends toward stagnation, and only disruptive outside factors have made it evolve, as with sharks4. He contrasts natural matter, which is inertia, with human matter, which contains oppositions5. Finally, he applies the notion to repetitive music, which produces inertia in time6.

1. 1#1.5 Between crisis and war: philosophising?10 Dec 2015 · 57:29
2. 2#9.11 How can sciences of history be real?7 Jan 2021 · 1:34:12
3. 3#6.1 Prelude: Lacan, “Function and field of speech and language”10 Nov 2019 · 22:25
4. 4#6.1 Prelude: Lacan, “Function and field of speech and language”10 Nov 2019 · 56:03
5. 5#9.11 How can sciences of history be real?7 Jan 2021 · 40:32
6. 6Discussion with Aliocha Allard (29 March 2017)26 Feb 2019 · 11:36

Summary produced automatically from 7 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.