Jean Wahl, The Idea of the Instant in Descartes’s Philosophy – ed. and trans. Alan D. Schrift, Edinburgh University Press, May 2026

Suggests that the simultaneity and discontinuity of the instant is the central idea in Descartes’s entire philosophy

• Provides the English translation of a major and influential interpretation of Descartes’s philosophy
• Offers English translations of three essays on Wahl’s work by Frédéric Worms, his most important French interpreter
• Presents an original account of temporality that has influenced a variety of 20th -century French thinkers
• Contributes to the recent and increasing anglophone interest in the work of Jean Wahl and to the developing links between Wahl’s writings and those of Henri Bergson

The Idea of the Instant in Descartes’s Philosophy is the first English translation of a major and influential interpretation of Descartes’s philosophy by one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century French philosophy. While discussing the role of the instant within Descartes’s philosophy, Jean Wahl develops an original account of temporality that is central to Wahl’s entire and extensive oeuvre and that has influenced a variety of 20th -century French thinkers, most notably Gilles Deleuze.
In addition to including the original French text, the volume contains an introduction to Jean Wahl by Alan D. Schrift and English translations of three essays, one written exclusively for this book, by Frédéric Worms, Director of the École Normale Supérieure, Wahl’s most important French interpreter, and one of the most influential philosophers working in France today.