Deleuzoguattarianism

Deleuzoguattarianism is a post-structuralist philosophy created by  Gilles Deleuze and  Félix Guattari. It attacks the vast majority of traditional philosophy and instead proposes very unconventional ways of viewing things, such as desiring machines.

It is important to note that while this philosophy is based on their collaboration on works such as Capitalism And Schizophrenia, their own personal philosophies will also be considered.

History
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, one a philosopher and the other a psychoanalyst and political activist, wrote several books together, such as Capitalism And Schizophrenia, What Is Philosophy, and Kafka: Towards A Minor Literature.

Each of them had their own independent careers, each advancing their shared theory of schizoanalysis and also their other philosophical beliefs. Deleuze, besides schizoanalysis, also did work in a theory of difference, Spinozian metaphysics, and anti-humanism. Deleuze's personal works include: Difference And Repetition, Spinoza: Practical Philosophy, Foucault, etc. Guattari, besides schizoanalysis, also did work in post-Marxian political theory, ecology, and semiotics. Guattari's personal works include: Chaosophy, Chaosmosis, Molecular Revolution, etc.

Guattari said that their collaboration was caused in part by the May 68' events in France, with the intellectual energy it produced empowering him and other radical philosophers.

Before The Collaboration
Before meeting each other and collaborating, Deleuze and  Guattari had their own personal projects and works. Deleuze taught at the University of Paris and published his first work, Empiricism and Subjectivity, a work on the theories of Hume. After his time there he worked at the French National Center for Scientific Research, during which he wrote Nietzsche and Philosphy, his own personal anti-Hegelian reading of Nietzsche. It was also during his time there that he befriended fellow post-structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault. He then taught at the University of Lyon. During this time the events of may 68' occurred, in which he defended his dissertations by writing two works: Difference and Repetition and Expressionism in Philosophy. He then began teaching at the University of Paris VIII, where he would befriend Guattari.

Guattari became interested in politics and philosophy through his participation in Trotskyist groups as a teenager. He then worked directly under famous psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, who he would later be very critical of. After this he worked at La Borde, an experimental clinic that would greatly influence his later idea of schizoanalysis through their experimental use of group therapy. His earlier Marxist views still influenced him greatly, as he would support anti-colonial struggles and the Italian Autonomists. He then founded, along with many other militants, The Federation of Groups for Institutional Study & Research, which engaged in anti-colonial struggle and anti-psychiatry. Guattari was involved in the may 68' movements, the failure of which influencing him and many others thought. After this he met Deleuze and begun planning Anti-Oedipus together.

Deleuze And Guattari's Collaboration
Deleuze and Guattari collaborated on 3 works: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature, and What is Philosophy? These works describe the foundations of schizoanalysis and other shared ideas, though they where expanded individually by Deleuze and Guattari respectively. Their most famous work was Capitalism and Schizophrenia, was an attack upon traditional psychological practice and its dogma. Their attitudes in this work became synonymous with post-structuralism and post-modernism, with them emphasizing the nomadology of knowledge and identity. This work was split into two volumes, those being: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus. Anti-Oedipus is the fundamental text of schizoanalysis, constructing its practice out of a criticism of classical psychoanalysis. They also recontextualize Marx's dialectical materialism into desiring production. Nietzsche's will to power is very influential to how Deleuze and Guattari describe desiring production. A Thousand Plateaus puts both the ideas arising out of Anti-Oedipus and the new idea of the rhizome into praxis. The rhizome is a group of machines that are connected in the sense that none are prioritized over the other and that a connection is always in the middle, there is no start or end. They use both the basis of schizoanalysis and a rhizomatic way of thinking to analyze various things such as sexuality, linguistics, war machines, etc.

Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature came to being out of Deleuze and Guattari's shared distaste towards the current interpritations and analysis of Kafka's literature. Throughout this text they attack many narratives given by analysts to Kafka: such as the oedipalization of his work, placing him in mother father narratives. They also critique the placement of theology in Kafka as above all other things that can be drawn out of him, such as his existentialist and anarchist political and personal ideas. This mode of thinking is what they call major literature, a mode of analysis that relies on socially constructed narratives and concepts. While the topic of the text is literature, they extend this major categorization to philosophy, attacking thinkers such as Descartes,  Kant,  Hegel, etc. Along with this they offered their own analysis of Kafka based on both their philosophy of schizoanalysis and their philosophy of flux. They analyze without care for narratives, genere's, etc that find themselves at the crux of major analysis. Instead, they see Kafka's work as the start of the project of minor literature, a mode of analysis without the essentialism or reliance on socially constructed concepts. This is extended, just as it was with major philosophy, to the idea of minor philosophy, which they identify with thinkers such as Spinoza, Nietzsche, and of course, themselves. Minor philosophy is philosophy that doesn't rely on crude reliance on set logic systems, but relies on ideas that are more rhizomatic.

What is Philosophy? describes Deleuze and Guattari's notion of what philosophy is and what separates it from other subjects. While others have defined philosophy as simply thinking about big, more abstract, problems, Deleuze and Guattari define philosophy as the discipline in the business of creating concepts. This concept creation comes about whenever it is useful, for example, when Kant needed a concept to describe what he saw as a priori truths he invented the conept of the thing in itself. While this is a very simple definition to give to philosophy, Deleuze and Guattari go into the small details of how philosophy occurs and how it differentiates it from things such as art or science. The creation of concepts is based in a concept Deleuze and Guattari call the plane of immanence, a basis for which everything comes into being. This plane of immanence is not a concept itself but is instead a immanent creator of concepts, it holds no attributes yet creates in its process. The plane of immanence is characterized, as the name implies, by immanence. Immanence is the opposite of transcendence, meaning the state of being entirely within something. From the plane of immanence, concept creation and philosophy are engaged in. This creation is creative in the eyes of Deleuze and Guattari, comparing the process to the process of the artist.

These works are the three works that Deleuze and Guattari collaborated on together, but their theories remained intertwined throughout their lives. Each worked to expand schizoanalysis in their own way, while engaging in their own projects. Deleuze expanded his metaphysics in works such as Spinoza: Practical Philosophy, while Guattari expanded his Post-Marxist theories in works such as Molecular Revolutions and worked in the realm of ecology. Both were hugely influential to all of modern continental philosophy, especially other post-structuralists.

After Deleuze And Guattari
Both Deleuze and  Guattari were hugely influential to continental philosophy as a whole, with both being regarded as being some of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Many of their contemporaries where influenced by the pair during their lifetimes: examples being Foucault,  Barthes,  Agamben,  Lyotard, and  Negri. Foucault was influenced by Deleuze and Guattari's Post-Structuralist ideas of the modern condition, saying in his introduction to Anti-Oedipus that the 20th century will be remembered as Deleuzian. Along with this, Foucault's later idea of biopower would be very convergent with Deleuze's idea of the control society. However, He and Deleuze would later have a falling out due to theoretical differences in the relationship between history and thought. Barthes would be influenced by Deleuze and Guattari's idea of the unconscious in his theory of semiotics, with the idea of the metalanguage being simular to Deleuze and Guattari's idea of how the unconscious is effected by external phenomena. Agamben was influenced heavily by Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault in his political theory and analysis. He studies both Foucault's biopower and the Deleuzoguattarian conception of flows in his analysis. Along with this, he takes a post-structuralist approach in his analysis. Lyotard, much like Foucault, is heavily influenced by Deleuze and Guattari's analysis of Post-Modern society. Along with this, being a Post-Marxist, he is influenced by Guattari's political theory and analysis. Negri was heavly influenced by both Deleuze and Guattari, with him being an acquaintance of both. He interviewed Deleuze, noting throughout his respect and admiration for Deleuze and Guattari's political theory. Along with this, he cowrote the book Communists Like Us with Guattari. In his personal work, he utilizes concepts such as the war machine.

Deleuze and Guattari's ideas led to many movements seeking to apply their ideas in their own discipline. Their ideas have been applied from a range of movements, ranging from politics to art. Notable modern Deleuzoguattarians include  Haraway,  Plant,  May,  Land, and   Fisher. Haraway was one of the first to utilize Deleuze and Guattari for political goals, using their ideas in her Cyborg Manifesto, one of the fundamental texts of CyberFeminism. Using the idea of deteritrorialization she uses Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy to support her political goals. Plant is another theorist of CyberFeminism, using Deleuze and Guattari's ideas to support her ideology. Along with that she founded the CCRU, which would become the basis for modern day  Accelerationism. She would come to leave the CCRU, seeing it as a pseudo-cult after the influence of Land became more present, and would begin engaging in surrealist art influenced by the Situationists. May was a crucial theorist of Post-Anarchism, his own personal theory being greatly influenced by both Deleuze and Guattari. All theorists of Post-Anarchism are influenced by Deleuze and Guattari to some extent, though some like  Newman and  Rousselle are more influenced by  Lacan. May also wrote an introductory work on Deleuze in wich he wrote his own personal views on him. Land is the primary theorist of Accelerationism, using Deleuze and Guattari's idea of deteritroialization as a model for the acceleration of technocapital. He theorized that the technocapital singularity would be the body without organs of technocapital. Along with this, he was a primary theorist of the CCRU. Fisher, another theorist of the CCRU, applied the ideas of Deleuze and Guattari to explain his theory of capitalist realism, saying that ideological desire had been territorialized into capitalism. Along with that, he, like Land, theorizes on the acceleration of technocapital.

Beliefs
Deleuze and Guattari have perhaps the most complicated and idiosyncratic work since Hegel, so be aware that this will be all very simplified.



Desiring Production
The most important idea of Deleuze and Guattari is their idea of the machine. The machine does not belong to any ontological mode of the subject and object, but is rather an object stratified out of the simple flow of being. These machines are defined by their potential for actualization. Actualization is the process of "production" in these machines, it is the result of the machine. For example, one could analyze the organ of the heart as a machine that produces blood, or an activist group that produces political change. These machines are based on whatever actualization they produce, if a machine produces a different actualization, it is no longer that machine. Deleuze and Guattari thus see machines as stratifications of flow, a concept very dear to Deleuze and Guattari. These machines are used to model the processes of the unconscious, capital, etc.

Territorialization And Deterritorialization
The machine, as was previously mentioned, is a stratification of flow. Deleuze and Guattari have a word for this stratification i.e. territorialization. In the desiring machine, the machine blocks and stratifies the flow of desire, with the actualization being produced by the stratification of this desire into one narrow pathway. This is territorialization, to place these flows into a narrow territory. Deleuze and Guattari commonly use territorialization not just to explain the process of machines, but also that of concepts. Just as Hegel thinks that all concepts are dialectical, Deleuze and Guattari find all concepts to be machinic. Territorialization can be summarized as the association of some object into the context of some territory. Just as something can be placed into a new context, i.e. to territorialize, it can be removed from it just as easily. Detterritorialization is the process of unstratification, to lose labels and contexts. Deleuze and Guattari see that, besides the special case of the body without organs, there is a tendency to reterritorialize. The process of deterritorialization and  reterritorialization is called lines of flight.

The Body Without Organs
The body without organs is the complete and total deterritorialization. It is a body without any territorial commitments, any machinic modes of desire, but rather an object of unstriated being. Deleuze and Guattari give this object two roles, as the basis of desire and as a goal to be reached. Rejecting Lacan, Deleuze and Guattari argue that there is no Freudian oedipus complex, or Lacan's triangle, but that desire at its root is schitzoid, as in free. Desire is free in the sense that it is not defined by any set of rules or by lack, but is an act of free creation. Deleuze and Guattari use someone with schizophrenia to exemplify this, saying that the schizoid transcends territories while constructing their worldviews and desires. Without all of the territorialization we do, we are just like this. The body without organs is also something to be reached. In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari talk in length about how one can achieve the creative nothing. One does this by deterritorializing and rejecting territory, making oneself a being without allegiance and in the moment, always moving in the sense of flux.

Rhizomes And The War Machine
In their book, A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari introduce the rhizome and the tree, two modes of concept. The tree is the traditional concept, with structuring being hierarchical and unified, while the rhizome is always in the middle, being a horizontal structure. The rhizome is how Deleuze and Guattari view things, always in the middle of something larger. The rhizome is associated with rhizomatic thinking, wich is the basis for the war machine. Rhizomatic thinking is to think in a rhizomatic manner, to think not in higherarchical structurings, but to think spiratically, in a schitzo manner. By doing this, we can escape structuralisms in thought and instead always be in the process. The war machine is a contradictory force against a concept, wich is only defined by an attack, or "war", on this concept. Deleuze and Guattari analyze how this constitutes the modern state as coopting the war machine, in the fact that the war machine is nomadic yet it is coopted into the structuralism of the state. Nomadic is essentially synonymous with rhizomatic, as the nomad is always moving. Deleuze and Guattari call for us to make our thoughts war machines, to reevaluate all things and to construct our own.

Political Philosophy
The political philosophy of Deleuzoguattarianism advocates for a politics of difference and multiplicity, emphasizing the importance of networks, connections, and assemblages over centralized and hierarchical structures of power. Deleuzoguattarianism rejects traditional notions of power and authority and instead advocate for a politics that embraces diversity and celebrates difference. They argue that traditional models of power are based on fixed identities and centralized control and are ultimately limiting and oppressive. Deleuze and Guattari propose that the rhizome offers a more dynamic and open mode of political organization that allows for greater experimentation and creativity.

The philosophy also emphasizes the importance of creating new forms of life and culture that challenge traditional hierarchies and boundaries. Deleuze and Guattari advocate for a politics that is constantly in flux, characterized by experimentation and the creation of new assemblages.

Social Philosophy
Deleuze and Guattari argue that the body without organs represents a space of possibility and potentiality, where individuals can experiment and create new forms of subjectivity and identity. It emphasizes the importance of multiplicities, which refers to the idea that individuals and objects are not fixed and unchanging, but are instead constantly in flux and in relation to other multiplicities. This emphasis on multiplicities challenges traditional notions of identity and subjectivity and emphasizes the importance of diversity and difference.

Aesthetics
Deleuzoguattarianism rejects traditional notions of aesthetics as something that is static and unchanging, instead emphasizing the importance of creativity and experimentation in art and culture. In the context of aesthetics, art and culture should be understood as rhizomatic, emphasizing the importance of experimentation and the creation of new connections and multiplicities.

Furthermore, Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy stresses the importance of the body and the sensory experience in aesthetics. They argue that the body is not simply a passive receptor of art, but an active participant in the creation and experience of art.

Ecology
Ecology is a major theme in Deleuzoguattarianism, with the philosophy emphasizing the importance of thinking beyond human-centered perspectives and recognizing the agency and interconnectedness of all beings. Deleuze and Guattari reject the idea of nature as something that is separate from humans, arguing instead that nature and culture are intertwined and inseparable. They argue for a new approach to ecology that emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings and the importance of thinking beyond human-centered perspectives.

Ethics
Deleuzoguattarianism rejects traditional notions of morality and instead puts emphasis on the importance of experimentation and the creation of new ethical concepts. Deleuze and Guattari reject the idea of fixed moral codes and instead argue for a philosophy of ethics that is based on experimentation, creativity, and the creation of new ethical concepts that are adapted to specific situations and contexts.

Friends

 * [[File:Nietzsche.png]] Nietzscheanism - Nietzsche is one of my greatest influences. The will to power can be interpreted as desiring production, and your thinking is anti-dialectical!
 * [[File:Spinoza.png]] Spinozaism - The first anti-humanist. You were the best of the minor philosophers except perhaps Nietzsche.
 * [[File:Poststruct.png]] Post-Structuralism - While I may have my discord with the deconstruction types, I am still a part of you. Why can you be anti-metaphysics though? Creating concepts is how we innovate and improve.
 * [[File:Postmodern.png]] Post-Modernism - I am largely considered a post-modern philosopher.
 * [[File:Anti-Humanism.png]] - The notion of conflating individuals to this abstract construction of the human is simply ridiculous.
 * [[File:Pragmat.png]] Pragmatism - We have often called schizoanalysis pragmatics.
 * [[File:Accel.png]] - My child, but you can be a bit out there sometimes.
 * [[File:Continental.png]] Continental Philosophy - I am a continental philosopher.
 * [[File:Post-an.png]] - You are extremely based and carry my ideas well, but what is this Lacan bs.
 * [[File:DarkDeleuze.png]] Dark Deleuzoguattarianism - A good elaboration on my politics, but political desire is not naturally communistic.

Frienemies

 * [[File:Stirner.png]] Stirnerism - You simply add nihilism to the dialectic, instead of removing the dialectic entirely. I like your critique of humanism though.
 * [[File:Freud.png]] Freudianism - One of my greatest influences, but we must move beyond you.
 * [[FIle:Karl Marx icon.png]] Marxism - Your critique of capitalism is too basic and you use the dialectic.
 * [[File:HegelianPhilosophy.png]] Hegelianism - You're a philosopher of flux and difference, but it is relative difference rather than absolute difference.
 * [[File:Sartre.png]] Sartrean Existentialism - I don't like how you operate purely from the subject, but Guattari seemed to like you.
 * [[File:Absurdism.png]] Absurdism - I don't like Camus, but the themes of Kafka's literature are paramount to go towards minor literature.
 * [[File:Struct.png]] Structuralism - Your semiotics are so basic! But, you are the climate that lead to me so I can't be too critical.
 * [[File:Žižekism.png]] Žižekianism - Lacanian and Hegelian, but you've been both critical and supportive of me in the past.

Enemies

 * [[File:Kant.png]] Kantianism - The figurehead of major philosophy.
 * [[File:Descarte.png]] Cartesianism - Another major philosopher. You created the cesspool of subject object dichotemy.
 * [[File:Modern.png]] Modernism - Modern society is disciplinary.
 * [[File:Humanism.png]] - Creates an artificial division between the human and the rest of the world.

[[File:Wikipedia.png]] Wikipedia

 * [[File:Wikipedia.png]] Gilles Deleuze [[File:Deleuze.png]]
 * [[File:Wikipedia.png]] Félix Guattari [[File:Guattari.png]]