Abstract
Chapter 1, Philosophy, singles out three different thematic fields in which the line is either addressed directly, as an autonomous concept, or discussed as a necessary means (or a salient paradigm) of representation. In the first part, comprising texts by Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Derrida, the focus is on issues of order, connectivity, and hierarchy. The second gives an impression of the fundamental role of the line in various philosophical reflections on time; the texts here are taken from Aristotle, Hans Reichenbach, Kant, and Hans Blumenberg. Part three focuses on the significance of the line in philosophical approaches concerning the foundations of geometry, as well as in the larger context of theories of space. The texts are taken from Descartes, Leibniz, Cusanus, and, again, Kant. A fourth part is devoted in its entirety to Gilles Deleuze, who stands out among the philosophers because he considered the concept of the line as essential to his understanding of philosophy itself.
