The New Creatures of Difference: A Look at the Concept of Repetition Within Dissipative Systems Theory

Abstract

Repetition is a major theme in contemporary thought, aligned more with difference and monstrosity than similarity and banality. This paper examines the logic of repetition through its deployment as a critique of the Western philosophical tradition’s understanding of time as temporal succession and examines the development of new concepts of repetition in dissipative systems theory and evolutionary thinking.