Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza (Zone Books)

In this extraordinary work Gilles Deleuze, the most renowned living philosopher in France, reflects on one of the figures of the past who has most influenced his own sweeping reconfiguration of the tasks of philosophy. Deleuze's brilliant text shows how current definitions of philosophy do not apply to Spinoza: a solitary thinker (yet scandalous and hated), he conceived of philosophy as an enterprise of liberation and radical demystification much as did Leibniz or, later Nietzsche. Spinoza confronts the grand philosophical problems that are still current today: the comparative role of ontology (the theory of substance), of epistemology (the theory of ideas), and of political anthropology (the theory of modes, passions, and actions). The goal of this book is to determine the rapport among the univocity of Being in the theory of substance; the production of truth and the genesis of sense in the theory of ideas; and practical joy (or the elimination of the sad passions) and the selective organization of the passions in the theory of modes.

In this extraordinary work Gilles Deleuze, the most renowned living philosopher in France, reflects on one of the figures of the past who has most influenced his own sweeping reconfiguration of the tasks of philosophy.Deleuze's brilliant text shows how current definitions of philosophy do not apply to Spinoza: a solitary thinker (yet scandalous and hated), he conceived of philosophy as an enterprise of liberation and radical demystification much as did Leibniz or, later Nietzsche. Spinoza confronts the grand philosophical problems that are still current today: the comparative role of ontology (the theory of substance), of epistemology (the theory of ideas), and of political anthropology (the theory of modes, passions, and actions).The goal of this book is to determine the rapport among the univocity of Being in the theory of substance; the production of truth and the genesis of sense in the theory of ideas; and practical joy (or the elimination of the sad passions) and the selective organization of the passions in the theory of modes.

Zone Books

In this remarkable work, Gilles Deleuze, the renowned Frenchphilosopher, reflects on one of the thinkers of the past who mostinfluenced his own sweeping reconfiguration of the tasks ofphilosophy. For Deleuze, Spinoza, along with Nietzsche andLucretius, conceived of philosophy as an enterprise of liberationand radical demystification. He locates in Spinoza "a set ofaffects, a kinetic determination, an impulse" and makes Spinozainto "an encounter, a passion." Expressionism inPhilosophy was the culmination of a series of monographicstudies by Deleuze (on Hume, Bergson, Nietzsche, Proust, Kant, andSacher-Masoch) and prepared the transition from these abstracttreatments of historical schemes of experience to the nomadology ofCapitalism and Schizophrenia (Anti-Oedipus andA Thousand Plateaus, co-authored with Félix Guattari).Thus, Expressionism in Philosophy is both a pivotalreading of Spinoza's work and a crucial text within the developmentof Deleuze's thought.

In this remarkable work, Gilles Deleuze, the renowned French philosopher, reflects on one of the thinkers of the past who most influenced his own sweeping reconfiguration of the tasks of philosophy. For Deleuze, Spinoza, along with Nietzsche and Lucretius, conceived of philosophy as an enterprise of liberation and radical demystification. He locates in Spinoza "a set of affects, a kinetic determination, an impulse" and makes Spinoza into "an encounter, a passion." Expressionism in Philosophy was the culmination of a series of monographic studies by Deleuze (on Hume, Bergson, Nietzsche, Proust, Kant, and Sacher-Masoch) and prepared the transition from these abstract treatments of historical schemes of experience to the nomadology of Capitalism and Schizophrenia ( Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , co-authored with Félix Guattari). Thus, Expressionism in Philosophy is both a pivotal reading of Spinoza's work and a crucial text within the development of Deleuze's thought. Expressionism in Philosophy is both a pivotal reading of Spinoza's work and also a crucial text within the development of Deleuze's own thought. It was the culmination of a series of monographic studies by Deleuze (on Hume, Bergson, Nietzsche, Proust, Kant, and Sacher-Masoch), and it prepared the transition from these abstract treatments of historical schemes of experience to the nomadology of Capitalism and Schizophrenia.

In this extraordinary work, Deleuze reflects on one of the thinkers of the past who most influenced his own sweeping reconfiguration of the tasks of philosophy. For Deleuze, Spinoza, along with Nietzsche and Lucretius, conceived of philosophy as an enterprise of liberation and radical demystification.

Gilles Deleuze is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Paris VIII, Vincennes/Saint Denis.