Abstract

Uncorrected proofs. Please cite published version. Abstract: A study of the interpretation and reception of Spinoza by Deleuze. Numerous core Deleuzian theses connect Deleuze’s thought to Spinoza, and Deleuze’s interest in Spinoza covers practically all aspects of Spinoza’s thought. Here I present the centrality of Deleuze’s understanding of Spinoza’s metaphysics of immanence to Deleuze’s broader Spinozist commitments. To that end, I survey the evolution of Deleuze’s reading of Spinoza in three parts. First, in Part 1, I look to Deleuze’s interpretation of Spinozist immanence in Expressionism in Philosophy (1968). Then, in Part 2, I examine Deleuze’s conception of the relation of Spinoza’s practical philosophy and the ‘plane of immanence’ in Spinoza: Practical Philosophy (1981). Finally, in Part 3, I turn to Deleuze’s and Guattari’s ultimate assessment of Spinoza’s significance as ‘the Christ of philosophers’ in What Is Philosophy? (1991). The chapter therefore aims to shed new light on both Deleuze’s own thought along with the meaning of immanence in Spinoza.