Abstract

This paper discusses the origin and foundation of the concept of latency in relation to Husserl's work on the original constitution of temporality. It attempts to show that far from being a concept of ontology, the concept of latency is primarily a concept of intelligent temporary systems. As such, it unfolds the realm of the transcendental and prepares for a deeper understanding of the notion of life as one of those temporary systems. Latency is how life organizes its temporality, the way in which the past is selectively activated against the finiteness of a present. Latency is a transcendental condition of sense. The consequence of this is the impossibility of understanding life as a fully productive reality, as proposed by the ontology of Deleuze.