Overview
Gilles Deleuze
(1925—1995)
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(1925–95)
Sorbonne-educated and based in Paris for most of his career, Deleuze started as a historian of philosophy, writing about Hume, Spinoza, and Nietzsche. Later work, particularly in collaboration with Félix Guattari, has branched into psychoanalysis, politics, film and literary theory. He stands for a general opposition to ‘essentialism’ in favour of a holistic and process orientated conception of the world. In conjunction with this goes a view of the philosopher as someone who creates concepts with which to approach this flux, rather than someone whose role is confined to examining handed down forms of thought. His many books include Empirisme et subjectivité (1953) trs. Empiricism and Subjectivity (1991), Nietzsche et la philosophie (1962) trs. Nietzsche and Philosophy (1983), and with Guattari Capitalisme et Schizophrénie 1. L'Anti-Oedipe (1972/3) trs. Anti-Oedipus—Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1985), Qu'est-ce que la philosophie? (1991) trs. What Is Philosophy? (1996).
