Gilles Deleuze Biography

Gilles Deleuze stands as a pivotal figure in postmodern French philosophy, identifying as both an empiricist and a vitalist. His extensive body of work, built upon concepts like multiplicity, constructivism, difference, and desire, diverges significantly from the mainstream traditions of 20th-century Continental thought. Within his metaphysical framework, he embraced a Spinozian notion of a plane of immanence, positing all existence as modes of a single substance on the same ontological level. This perspective led him to argue for the absence of inherent good and evil, instead proposing a focus on relationships beneficial or detrimental to particular individuals, an ethical stance that deeply informed his engagement with social and political struggles for rights and freedoms. Deleuze often pursued philosophical 'encounters' with other thinkers and artists, viewing philosophy not as commentary but as a creative act that generates new concepts, emphasizing a reality characterized by constant becoming rather than static being.