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Gilles Deleuze

Born

in Paris, France

January 18, 1925

Died

November 04, 1995

Website

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/deleuze/

Genre

Philosophy, Social Sciences, Politics

Influences

Baruch Spinoza, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Hume, Gilbert Simondon, Hen ...more

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Deleuze is a key figure in poststructuralist French philosophy. Considering himself an empiricist and a vitalist, his body of work, which rests upon concepts such as multiplicity, constructivism, difference and desire, stands at a substantial remove from the main traditions of 20th century Continental thought. His thought locates him as an influential figure in present-day considerations of society, creativity and subjectivity. Notably, within his metaphysics he favored a Spinozian concept of a plane of immanence with everything a mode of one substance, and thus on the same level of existence. He argued, then, that there is no good and evil, but rather only relationships which are beneficial or harmful to the particular individuals. This et Deleuze is a key figure in poststructuralist French philosophy. Considering himself an empiricist and a vitalist, his body of work, which rests upon concepts such as multiplicity, constructivism, difference and desire, stands at a substantial remove from the main traditions of 20th century Continental thought. His thought locates him as an influential figure in present-day considerations of society, creativity and subjectivity. Notably, within his metaphysics he favored a Spinozian concept of a plane of immanence with everything a mode of one substance, and thus on the same level of existence. He argued, then, that there is no good and evil, but rather only relationships which are beneficial or harmful to the particular individuals. This ethics influences his approach to society and politics, especially as he was so politically active in struggles for rights and freedoms. Later in his career he wrote some of the more infamous texts of the period, in particular, Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus. These texts are collaborative works with the radical psychoanalyst Félix Guattari, and they exhibit Deleuze’s social and political commitment.

Gilles Deleuze began his career with a number of idiosyncratic yet rigorous historical studies of figures outside of the Continental tradition in vogue at the time. His first book, Empirisism and Subjectivity, is a study of Hume, interpreted by Deleuze to be a radical subjectivist. Deleuze became known for writing about other philosophers with new insights and different readings, interested as he was in liberating philosophical history from the hegemony of one perspective. He wrote on Spinoza, Nietzche, Kant, Leibniz and others, including literary authors and works, cinema, and art. Deleuze claimed that he did not write “about” art, literature, or cinema, but, rather, undertook philosophical “encounters” that led him to new concepts. As a constructivist, he was adamant that philosophers are creators, and that each reading of philosophy, or each philosophical encounter, ought to inspire new concepts. Additionally, according to Deleuze and his concepts of difference, there is no identity, and in repetition, nothing is ever the same. Rather, there is only difference: copies are something new, everything is constantly changing, and reality is a becoming, not a being.

He often collaborated with philosophers and artists as Félix Guattari, Michel Foucault, Guy Hocquenghem, René Schérer, Carmelo Bene, François Châtelet, Olivier Revault d'Allonnes, Jean-François Lyotard, Georges Lapassade, Kateb Yacine and many others. ...more

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Gilles Deleuze’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 45,753 ratings · 2,718 reviews · 267 distinct works • Similar authors

	Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia by Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari (Contributor) 4.16 avg rating — 7,653 ratings — published 1972 — 74 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia by Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Brian Massumi (Translator) 4.32 avg rating — 6,535 ratings — published 1980 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nietzsche and Philosophy by Gilles Deleuze, Michael Hardt (Foreword), Hugh Tomlinson (Translator) 4.21 avg rating — 4,257 ratings — published 1962 — 59 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Difference and Repetition by Gilles Deleuze, Paul Patton (Translator) 4.26 avg rating — 3,636 ratings — published 1968 — 55 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cinema 1: The Movement-Image 4.11 avg rating — 2,156 ratings — published 1983 — 58 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What Is Philosophy? by Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Hugh Tomlinson (Translator) 4.15 avg rating — 2,103 ratings — published 1991 — 52 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spinoza: Practical Philosophy by Gilles Deleuze, Robert Hurley (Translator) 4.22 avg rating — 1,927 ratings — published 1970 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature 4.15 avg rating — 1,870 ratings — published 1975 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Masochism: Coldness and Cruelty & Venus in Furs by Gilles Deleuze, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Jean McNeil (Translator) 4.05 avg rating — 1,473 ratings — published 1967 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Foucault by Gilles Deleuze, Paul Bove (Foreword), Sean Hand (Translator) 4.10 avg rating — 1,266 ratings — published 1986 — 45 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gilles Deleuze…

Series by Gilles Deleuze

Cinema (2 books)
by

Gilles Deleuze

4.14 avg rating — 3,382 ratings

Quotes by Gilles Deleuze (?)

“A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window.”
― Gilles Deleuze, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

tags: anarchy, freedom, inspirational, lateral-thinking, philosophy, rationalism

2508 likes

“If you're trapped in the dream of the Other, you're fucked.”
― Gilles Deleuze

tags: dream, fucked-up, funny, humor, other, philosophy, relationships

625 likes

“Bring something incomprehensible into the world!”
― Gilles Deleuze, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

tags: art, individuality, inspirational, life, new, otherness

292 likes

See all Gilles Deleuze's quotes »

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Gilles Deleuze’s Followers (2,231)

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Gilles Deleuze

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