The spinozian individuation under the deleuzian prism: for an ethics of intensive quantities

Abstract

This paper aims to reconstruct the spinozian theory of individuation as presented by Deleuze in his works about Spinoza, relating it to his ontology in Difference and Repetition (his main ontological work), with the purpose of elaborating a critical reading on the ambiguities that emerge concerning the spinozian-deleuzian notion of joy. The latter occur, for example, when an excessive value is given to the series of stages in the course of learning that leads to the spinozian salvation, reason why the approach is reduced to an accumulative, end-oriented race towards maximizing joy, an accumulation of joyful passions considered an end in itself. I think that fracturing the image of “Deleuze’s Spinoza” is one way to highlight and delve in the question on the place of negativity in deleuzian philosophy. This will also allow us to free it from those readings that aim to make it an ideological ally of neoliberalism, contributing, instead, to the formulation of an ethics of intensive quantities –this being the ethical approach in Difference and Repetition.