Deleuze

This book provides a clear and concise introduction to the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze. It analyses his key theoretical concepts, such as difference and the body without organs, and covers all the different areas of his thought, including metaphysics, the history of philosophy, psychoanalysis, political theory, the philosophy of the social sciences and aesthetics. As the first book to offer a comprehensive analysis of Deleuze's writings, it reveals both the internal coherence of his philosophy and its development through a series of distinct phases.

Reidar Due offers an entirely new interpretation of Deleuze's philosophy, centred around the notion of thought as a capacity to form relations. These relations are embodied in nature, in language and in the unconscious; in art, science and social practice. With this concept of embodied thought, Deleuze challenges our most entrenched beliefs about the self and about signs whether linguistic or social. He develops an original theory of power and social systems and presents a method for understanding any signifying practice, from language and ritual to the unconscious, including cinema, literature and painting.

Due analyses the different strands in this theoretical edifice and shows its implications for a wide range of human sciences, from history and psychology to political theory and cultural studies.

I. Introduction

II. Immanence and Subjectivity

III. Cultural Semiotics

IV. A History of the Subject

V. Social Ontology

VI. Philosophy and Art

"Reidar Due’s study of Deleuze is exceptional in its combination of clarity and complexity, providing an account of all the major aspects of Deleuze’s philosophy and its development. It manages to be both focused and comprehensive, thematic and historical, and, perhaps most important, it offers a new and highly convincing interpretation of Deleuze as a philosopher of embodied thought."

Christina Howells, University of Oxford

"Readers new to Deleuze will find this a highly instructive and superior introduction. Reidar Due succeeds in guiding the reader through Deleuze’s project and its attempt to transform how we think. The book is essential reading for students and scholars in the humanities and social sciences who are seeking new directions for thought."

Keith Ansell Pearson, University of Warwick

Reidar Andreas Due is Lecturer in French at the Univesity of Oxford, Magdalen College. This book provides a clear and concise introduction to the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze. It analyses his key theoretical concepts, such as difference and the body without organs, and covers all the different areas of his thought, including metaphysics, the history of philosophy, psychoanalysis, political theory, the philosophy of the social sciences and aesthetics. As the first book to offer a comprehensive analysis of Deleuze's writings, it reveals both the internal coherence of his philosophy and its development through a series of distinct phases.

Reidar Due offers an entirely new interpretation of Deleuze's philosophy, centred around the notion of thought as a capacity to form relations. These relations are embodied in nature, in language and in the unconscious; in art, science and social practice. With this concept of embodied thought, Deleuze challenges our most entrenched beliefs about the self and about signs whether linguistic or social. He develops an original theory of power and social systems and presents a method for understanding any signifying practice, from language and ritual to the unconscious, including cinema, literature and painting.

Due analyses the different strands in this theoretical edifice and shows its implications for a wide range of human sciences, from history and psychology to political theory and cultural studies.