What is Philosophy? Part 3 - Deleuze and Guattari
Channel: Dr Luis de Miranda
Date: 2019-08-23

Continuation of the commentary by Dr Luis de Miranda of What is Philosophy? by Deleuze & Guattari
Translated by Burchell and Tomlinson
Verso

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In their collaborative work, "What is Philosophy?", Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari offer a unique and challenging perspective on the nature of philosophy, departing from traditional definitions. Here are some key points:

Philosophy as Concept Creation: Instead of viewing philosophy as simply interpreting existing ideas, they define it as the "art of forming, inventing, and fabricating concepts." This involves creating new ways of thinking and understanding the world.

Philosophy Beyond Logic: They challenge the view of philosophy as an extension of logic and emphasize its creative and experimental nature. It's not about rigid systems and deductions, but about exploring new possibilities and challenging assumptions.

Three Modes of Thought: They distinguish three modes of thought: philosophy, science, and art. Each confronts chaos in different ways: philosophy with concepts, science with propositions, and art with percepts. While distinct, they can also interact and inform each other.

Concepts as Tools: For Deleuze and Guattari, concepts are not static definitions but active tools for exploration and experimentation. They allow us to create new connections, map realities, and challenge established ways of thinking.

Key Concepts: They introduce several crucial concepts in the book, including:

Plane of Immanence: A level of pure potential and multiplicity, not defined by existing categories or hierarchies.
Conceptual Personae: Philosophical figures like Spinoza who embody specific ways of thinking and creating concepts.
Functives: Operations that create concepts and connections between them.
Affects and Percepts: The material basis of thought and experience, not just abstract ideas.
Overall, Deleuze and Guattari's "What is Philosophy?" doesn't offer a single, definitive answer, but rather encourages an active, creative, and experimental approach to thinking. It's a call to use philosophy as a tool for personal and collective liberation, not just dry academic analysis.

As a philosophical counsellor, Dr Luis de Miranda conducts individual online conversations with individuals from all over the world to help them make sense of their life, to help them feel a greater sense of the possible and of reality as an intercreative whole. He offers many discovery sessions free of charge to people from all continents who otherwise could not afford financially a form of therapy or dialogue that respects their dignity and thirst for meaning.

Philosophical health is not about finding what is wrong with a person in terms of diagnosis, norms or brain chemistry. It's about helping the person recover the mindful enthusiasm, holistic understanding and proactive serenity of being a whole human being, with a sense of purpose and the capacity to stand for what they believe is right and fair.

https://gofundme.com/f/philosophicalhealth

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