Gilles Deleuze, by Christopher Watkin. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2020. xxxi + 167 pp. $12.00.
A volume on the thought of the post-modern philosopher, Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995) at first seems to be an unlikely addition to a series on the “Great Thinkers” promoted by Christian publisher, not to mention one that is confessionally Reformed (after all, P&R stands for “Presbyterian and Reformed”). Yet author Christopher Watkin gives four reasons as to why Christians should engage Deleuze’s thought: first, he is a pivotal figure in twentieth-century post-modern thought; secondly, Deleuze helped fundamentally to develop further Western society; thirdly, he questions deeply held assumptions as sources of oppression for the marginalized and disenfranchised; and finally, Deleuze challenges both Christian and new atheistic implications for the death of God.
Following from these reasons, Watkin maintains that Deleuze’s thought can be constructively utilized by Christians to engage concerns raised by post-Christian society. Watkin situates Deleuze’s thought within the context of two important mid-twentieth century intellectual movements against which the French philosopher reacted: structuralism, which is the idea that we view the world only through the intellectual and linguistic structures we impose on it; and phenomenology according to which all knowledge begins with how things appear to the subject regardless as to whether the said things are true in themselves. In keeping with the other volumes in the Great Thinkers series, Gilles Deleuze consists of two main sections. Part 1 (chaps. 1–3) surveys Deleuze’s thought. Part 2 (chaps. 4–9) seeks to engage Deleuze’s thought by means of Scripture, highlighting both points of correspondence and those of divergence. Throughout both sections of the work Watkin argues that aspects of Deleuze’s philosophy can be constructively utilized by the church in engaging postmodernity.
Chapter 1 examines Deleuze’s call for the West to adopt a new image of thought or the way we think about everything. Negatively, this means abandoning the Platonic “dogmatic image thought” that has generally dominated the West. This particular “image of thought” has fostered numerous types of hierarchy that have oppressed social, political, economic, religious, ethnic, racial, and sexual minorities. This “dogmatic image of thought” against which Deleuze inveighs consists of three pillars: truth, its understanding of error, and method. The first pillar, truth, functions according to three principles: A thinker earnestly desires truth; if one thinks correctly, he/she can arrive at truth; and everyone can find truth if they act on their will to do so. Within the “dogmatic image of thought,” error does not belong to thought, nor does it originate with the thinker, but rather with external forces that lead the thinking subject astray. Because of the aberrant nature of error, it is abomination. The “dogmatic image of thought” applies a specific type of method. This method involves an infallible use of doubt as advocated by Rene Descartes (1596–1650).
Chapter 2 details Deleuze’s attempt to “reverse Platonism.” This overturning of Platonism does not entail repudiating all of Plato’s ideas, but instead reappropriates them for his purposes. This radical revision is most apparent in Deleuze’s alteration of Plato’s doctrine of the Forms in which he elevates the role of the simulacrum, a copy that contains no semblance of the original Form unlike the “true copy” of the said Form. Deleuze radicalizes and inverts Plato’s doctrine by designating everything as simulacrum, meaning therefore that nothing can claim any proximity to the original. This move by Deleuze overthrows any metaphysical claim for hierarchy by removing any transcendent basis for any particular thing. This overturning of the Forms constitutes Deleuze’s frontal attack of transcendence which is his driving metaphysical agenda. Nothing can claim inherent superiority if is only a perceived copy of something that only purports to be original without any actual link to an ultimate.
Chapter 3, which concludes Part 1, analyzes the implications of Deleuze’s thought in three areas: its effects on the Cartesian dualistic relationship between thinking subject and object, especially as this pertains to the human body; Deleuze’s writing style; and the ethics and politics that emerge from his thought. Deleuze contends that the thinking subject is just another instance of the transcendence that he utterly abhors. Positing a thinking subject merely substitutes “one theological concept for another” (53). According to Deleuze, this concept of the thinking subject directly affects the manner in which we think about our bodies. The presence of the Cartesian subject allows for a hierarchical ordering of bodies as organisms with sundry functioning parts, or organs. With respect to style, Deleuze regards currently fixed rules for writing and speaking as reinforcing the “dogmatic image of thought,” and in so doing, stifled the flow of creativity. Having rejected the transcendent, Deleuze’s ethics do not appeal to any code of right and wrong, true and false, or good and evil; instead, three elements comprise his ethical thought: life, creativity, and maximizing potential. These are made possible only by maximizing autonomy. The implications of this approach to ethics for politics are clear: Because of his rejection of the thinking subject, Deleuze regards not the individual as the fundamental unit of the state but instead the desires of the minority that have been marginalized by majoritarian standards. Thus, undergirding Deleuze’s politics is a radical egalitarianism.
Part 2 of the work commences with chapter 4 which explores the relationship of Deleuze’s notion of difference to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Like Deleuze, Christian theology is concerned about the relationship between the “One” and the “Many.” In this regard, Watkin identifies a point of correspondence between the two which is that neither seeks to privilege the “One” over the “Many.” However, whereas Deleuze conceives of an irreconcilable dichotomy between the two, insisting the “Many” is what is real, the doctrine of the Trinity regards the “One” and the “Many” as necessarily harmonious. Chapter 5 engages Deleuze’s objection to transcendence with the Christian understanding of God’s transcendence in relation to his creation. Here Watkin observes that Deleuze repudiates the Aristotelian conception of a transcendent standing hierarchically atop of some chain of being, contrasting this with the Christian view which balances God’s transcendence (his separateness from creation) with his immanence (his intimate involvement in creation). The author afterwards answers Deleuze’s objection that ethics and politics are tied to an allegedly unchanging ontology by arguing how the biblical teachings on the Incarnation and redemption posit positive change in the created order which can revolutionize these crucial areas of individual and collective human conduct in chapter 6. Watkin continues this discussion in chapter 7.
Chapter 8 is arguably one of the most compelling chapters in the work as it relates the truth of redemption directly to the minoritarian orientation of Deleuze’s thought by demonstrating that it encompasses all who are marginalized. Moreover, because even those of seemingly exalted status of this world need God’s redemption through Christ, they have no inherent grounds for asserting superiority over those of any supposed inferior estate. Watkin concludes the work with a discussion of how Christian eschatology answers Deleuze’s conviction that continuous change is the only constant by arguing how the fact of such change points one to the ultimate hope of the world’s total redemption and restoration.
Gilles Deleuze is an invaluable work for exposing the Christian reader to the influential thought of this important postmodern philosopher. It exemplifies erudite, lively Christian engagement with postmodern thought, confirming what it means for Christians of every tradition to “bring every thought captive.” This book is a useful text for upper undergraduate and graduate level classes in postmodern philosophy. However, it will present a significant challenge to the general reader who has not studied philosophy previously—especially modern and postmodern philosophy. Notwithstanding this caveat, Watkin’s book serves as both a guide and a model for philosophically trained Christians to engage the intellectual systems that have and continue to shape the deepest assumptions of our culture. With this monograph, Professor Watkin has rendered an invaluable service to the church.
