The Lesser Existences: Étienne Souriau, an Aesthetics for the Virtual

On the complex aesthetics and ontology at work in Étienne Souriau’s unique oeuvre

In this concise but expansive exegesis of the philosophical aesthetics of Étienne Souriau, philosopher David Lapoujade provides a lucid introduction to many of the key concepts underpinning Souriau’s existential pluralism. Among the various modes of existence that populate a world, Souriau grants particular importance to virtual beings—the lesserexistences. Always taking the form of a sketch or an outline, the...