Deleuze and Guattari’s ‘War Machine’ as a Critique of Hegel’s Political Philosophy

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-325
Author(s):  
Nathan Widder
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethical Life ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
Rational Structure ◽  
War Machine ◽  
Political Project ◽  
Partisan Warfare

AbstractThis paper elaborates Deleuze and Guattari’s ‘war machine’ in relation to key theses in Hegel’s political philosophy, with the aim of showing how it illuminates the conditions under which politics and political institutions as Hegel understands them both emerge and are compromised. After first introducing the idea of the war machine and its appropriation by discussing it in relation to Carl Schmitt’s theory of partisan warfare, it examines both the war machine and Hegel’s theory of the State by way of a focus on Hegel’s discussions of drive (Trieb) and semblance (Schein). Regarding the first, the paper explores how both Hegel and Deleuze and Guattari conceive of social structure in terms of a structure of drives even while they differ in their understandings of the drives in relation to desire and subjectivity. Regarding the second, the paper explores how moments of semblance identified by Hegel as he develops his system of Right reveal points where the war machine can emerge from within State structures. The paper argues that the war machine concept challenges understandings of politics built on friend/enemy antagonisms and the use of external conflict to secure internal unity, the former being Schmitt’s explicit political project and the second being the place at which Hegel’s project ultimately finds itself when it fails to secure the rational structure of Ethical Life.

The Open Society and the Democracy to Come: Bergson, Deleuze and Guattari

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Baugh
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
The State ◽  
Open Society ◽  
Minor Literature ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
The People ◽  
To Come ◽  
Polar Opposite ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Gain Access

In Bergsonism, Deleuze refers to Bergson's concept of an ‘open society’, which would be a ‘society of creators’ who gain access to the ‘open creative totality’ through acting and creating. Deleuze and Guattari's political philosophy is oriented toward the goal of such an open society. This would be a democracy, but not in the sense of the rule of the actually existing people, but the rule of ‘the people to come,’ for in the actually existing situation, such a people is ‘lacking’. When the people becomes a society of creators, the result is a society open to the future, creativity and the new. Their openness and creative freedom is the polar opposite of the conformism and ‘herd mentality’ condemned by Deleuze and Nietzsche, a mentality which is the basis of all narrow nationalisms (of ethnicity, race, religion and creed). It is the freedom of creating and commanding, not the Kantian freedom to obey Reason and the State. This paper uses Bergson's The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, and Deleuze and Guattari's Kafka: For a Minor Literature, A Thousand Plateaus and What is Philosophy? to sketch Deleuze and Guattari's conception of the open society and of a democracy that remains ‘to come’.

Disrupting Sovereignty: Deleuze and Guattari on the War Machine

2019 ◽  
pp. 93-118
Author(s):  
Gavin Rae
Keyword(s):  
Gilles Deleuze ◽  
Social World ◽  
The State ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
Ontological Difference ◽  
Radical Critique ◽  
The Social ◽  
War Machine ◽  
Moving Fluid

This chapter engages with Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s analysis of the war machine, suggesting that it contradicts Arendt’s analysis and offers the most radical critique within the radical-juridical paradigm. Premised on the notion that we must rethink sovereignty from ontological difference rather than unity, Deleuze and Guattari radically undermine the indivisibility that defines the classic-juridical conception. Far from being located in one individual or point, sovereignty is always tied to the State, which is a multiplicity that expresses the constantly moving, fluid, and dynamic field of difference. By thinking the social world in terms of heterogeneity, Deleuze and Guattari undermine the hierarchical conception of sovereignty underpinning the classic-juridical model, but continue to implicitly insist that State sovereignty is tied to the maintenance of juridical order; an order that is always threatened by or in conflict with the war machine that disrupts it. As a consequence, they conclude that sovereign order is always far more unstable and disordered than it appears to be.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 459-476
Author(s):  
Tao Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political History ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Personal Freedom ◽  
Moral Transformation ◽  
Chinese Intellectual ◽  
Political Project ◽  
The Ideal

The Conclusion offers a reflection on the tragic fate of the Zhuangist idea of personal freedom in Chinese intellectual and political history. It scrutinizes the widely shared premise of self-cultivation, what the author calls the “regime of self-cultivation” in Chinese moral-political philosophy, among most classical thinkers including Zhuangzi, and explores its constraint on the development of personal freedom in the mainstream moral-political discourse as well as in the building of political institutions. In this respect, it was the fajia thinkers who built their theories on the givenness of ordinary human dispositions, instead of on the promissory note of moral transformation. The author reflects on a path that was not taken in Chinese history, i.e., the integration of the Zhuangist idea of personal freedom into the mainstream moral-political project in conceptualizing a polity that can accommodate the ideal of personal freedom institutionally.

Defending Bosanquet's Philosophical Theory of the State: A Reassessment of the ‘Bosanquet-Hobhouse Controversy’

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stamatoula Panagakou
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethical Life ◽  
Philosophical Theory ◽  
Self Transcendence ◽  
Definition Of

This article focuses on the ‘Bosanquet-Hobhouse controversy’ and defends Bosanquet's political philosophy against Hobhouse's criticisms. A thorough textual investigation of The Philosophical Theory of the State (supported by references to the Gifford Lectures) demonstrates what Bosanquet actually wrote and rectifies Hobhouse's erroneous account of Bosanquet's philosophy. My analysis of the principles of self-transcendence and of the dialectic of the finite-infinite clarifies the nature and content of the logico-metaphysical assumptions underlying Bosanquet's philosophical theory of the state. I show that Hobhouse misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented Bosanquet's views. I elucidate Bosanquet's definition of the state, and suggest that his views should be understood in the conceptual context of philosophical Idealism. This article defends Bosanquet's idea of the state as the instantiation of ethical life, and explores the logical interdependence between self-transcendence and the attainment of the best life in the context of the state.

scholarly journals SOCIALINIŲ INSTITUCIJŲ KRITIKA GILL ES’IO DELEUZE’O IR FELIXO GUATTARI FILOSOFIJOJE

Problemos ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
Audronė Žukauskaitė
Keyword(s):  
Social Institutions ◽  
The State ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
Abstract Machine ◽  
Control Society ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
War Machine ◽  
Different Types ◽  
And Function ◽  
State Form

Straipsnyje analizuojama socialinių institucijų kritika, išplėtota Deleuze’o ir Guattari knygose Anti-Oidipas ir Tūkstantis plokštikalnių bei trumpame, bet reikšmingame Deleuze’o tekste „Prierašas apie kontrolės visuomenę“. Deleuze’as ir Guattari kuria mašininę visuomenės sampratą: jų teigimu, skirtingas socialines ir ekonomines formacijas įmanoma įsivaizduoti kaip virtualias mašinas, kurios gali aktualizuotis bet kuriuo istoriniu momentu. Analizuodami valstybės aparatą, Deleuze’as ir Guattari vengia nuorodų į konkrečias valstybes; veikiau jie kalba apie universalią valstybę-formą, kuri veikia kaip užgrobimo aparatas. Valstybė-forma suvokiama kaip suvienodinantis ir standartizuojantis principas, o karo mašina, priešingai, siekia sulaužyti sustingusias formas ir kurti inovacijas. Šie du agregatai – valstybės aparatas ir karo mašina – apibūdina ne tik valstybę ir jai besipriešinančias jėgas, bet persmelkia visas žmogaus veiklos sferas: mokslą, filosofiją, meną. Deleuze’o ir Guattari formuluojama valstybės aparato kritika artima Michelio Foucault disciplinos visuomenės teorijai. Foucault galios samprata taip pat yra mechanicistinė: galia persmelkia sociumą įsikūnydama disciplininiuose aparatuose. Deleuze’as disciplinos visuomenės teorijai priešpriešina savąją kontrolės visuomenės sampratą: priešingai nei disciplininė galia, kuri buvo ilgalaikė, visa apimanti, tačiau netolydi, kontrolė sukuria tolydų ir nuolat kintantį galios tinklą, kuris apraizgo visas žmogaus veiklos sferas.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: socialinės mašinos, valstybės aparatas, karo mašina, disciplinos visuomenė, kontrolės visuomenė.Critique of Social Institutions in Gilles Deleuze’s and Felix Guattari’s PhilosophyAudronė Žukauskaitė   SummaryThe article discusses Deleuze’s and Guattari’s notions of society and state. In Anti-Oedipus, Deleuze and Guattari analyze the territorial, despotic and capitalist machines which are seen not as different stages of historical evolution but as different types of an abstract machine. In A Thousand Plateaus Deleuze and Guattari develop the mechanistic notion of the state: the state – form is an abstract machine or a diagram which can be actualized in different historical state forms. The state – form is juxtaposed to another type of assemblage called the nomadic war machine. If the state-form functions as a principle of unification and standardization, the war machine is seen as a principle of metamorphic transformations and innovations. Deleuze and Guattari’s theories of society and state are compared with Michel Foucault’s mechanistic notion of society. Deleuze contrasts his notion of control society to the notion of discipline society by Foucault. If the mechanisms of discipline are discontinuous and function in precise space areas, the mechanisms of control produce continuous and all-encompassing networks which totally merge with our corporeal existence.Keywords: social machines, state apparatus, war machine, discipline society, control society.

scholarly journals Comtismo, Castilhismo, and Varguismo

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-287
Author(s):  
Jens R Hentschke
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
National Security ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
The State ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Technical Solutions

The author argues that polity and policies of Getúlio Vargas’s Estado Novo cannot be fully understood without exploring the legacy of Rio Grande do Sul. The southern state’s first republican governor, Júlio de Castilhos, had taken inspiration in Auguste Comte’s multifaceted political philosophy and inculcated its authoritarian traits into political institutions. Yet, he and his followers substantially adapted Comte’s positivism to the specific economic and political circumstances in their republiqueta sui generis. In contrast to Comte, the State merged temporal and spiritual powers to pursue evolutionary political changes, a balanced socioeconomic modernisation, and the incorporation of the populus qua paternalistic public policies, and all this with a strong focus on education. Changing contexts resulted in further adjustments, when Vargas became governor in 1928: an ‘orderly’ inclusion of the opposition into the polity, a stronger state interventionism in the economy and labor market, and an experimentation with state corporatism. These experiences paved the way for this comtismo-turned-castilhismo-turning-varguismo to enter the national stage two years later. Despite all the compromises with other contenders for power that Vargas had to make thereafter, he and his gaúcho and other co-opted protégés remained united in the strong belief in technical solutions to social problems and a quest for rational institutions to carry out transformative policies. For them, the State was to be agent of development, tutor of corporate interest groups, and now also guarantor of national security. While highlighting the significant, and still underestimated, impact of French positivism on Vargas’s first 15 years in government, the article places emphasis on the pragmatic dimensions of its appropriation, propagation, and reinterpretation by two generations of state-builders.

scholarly journals ARTE E NOMADOLOGIA / Art and nomadology

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (40) ◽  
pp. 297-309
Author(s):  
Veronica Miranda Damasceno
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
State Model ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
The Arts ◽  
War Machine ◽  
To Come

Trata-se, neste artigo, de apresentar algumas considerações sobre as Teses de nomadologia, abordadas por Deleuze e Guattari em Mil Platôs (Deleuze, Guattari, 1995), bem como os possíveis vínculos dessas Teses com as artes. Pensar a nomadologia implica em levar em consideração o problema do capitalismo e de seu desenvolvimento e ainda em retirar o pensamento do modelo estatal, fazer dele um ato revolucionário, um devir-revolucionário. A relação que propomos dessas Teses com as artes é no sentido de pensar a arte como resistência e fabulação criadora. Na arte, a criação faz apelo a uma forma futura e a um povo que ainda não existe, invocando, pois, uma nova terra e, por efeito, um povo porvir. Essa é a função fabuladora da arte.Palavras-chave: Nomadologia; Arte; Criação; Fabulação; Máquina de guerra.AbstractThis article intents to presenting some considerations about the Theses of nomadology, introduced by Deleuze and Guattari in A thousand plateaus (Deleuze, Guattari, 1995), as well as the possible links of these Theses with the arts. Thinking about nomadology implies taking into account the problem of capitalism and its development and also removing thinking from the state model, making it a revolutionary act, a becoming-revolutionary. The relation that we propose, of these Theses, with the arts is in the sense of thinking as art as resistance and creative fabulation. In art, creation appeals to a future form and to a people that do not yet exist, thus invoking a new land and, in effect, a people to come. This is the fabulation function of art.Keywords: Nomadology; Art; Creation; Fabulation; War machine.  

The elimination of violence and terrorism in Iraq strategy

2019 ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
Mona Ali Duaij ◽  
Ahlam Ahmed Issa
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Terrorist Organization ◽  
The Media ◽  
Causes Of Crime ◽  
Religious Aspect

All the Iraqi state institutions and civil society organizations should develop a deliberate systematic policy to eliminate terrorism contracted with all parts of the economic, social, civil and political institutions and important question how to eliminate Daash to a terrorist organization hostile and if he country to eliminate the causes of crime and punish criminals and not to justify any type of crime of any kind, because if we stayed in the curriculum of justifying legitimate crime will deepen our continued terrorism, but give it legitimacy formula must also dry up the sources of terrorism media and private channels and newspapers that have abused the Holy Prophet Muhammad (p) and all kinds of any of their source (a sheei or a Sunni or Christians or Sabians) as well as from the religious aspect is not only the media but a meeting there must be cooperation of both parts of the state facilities and most importantly limiting arms possession only state you can not eliminate terrorism and violence, and we see people carrying arms without the name of the state and remains somewhat carefree is sincerity honesty and patriotism the most important motivation for the elimination of violence and terrorism and cooperation between parts of the Iraqi people and not be driven by a regional or global international schemes want to kill nations and kill our bodies of Sunnis, sheei , Christians, Sabean and Yazidi and others.

СОВРЕМЕННОЕ РОССИЙСКОЕ ОБЩЕСТВО КАК ПРОСТРАНСТВО КОНФЛИКТА

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
V. V. Gorshkova ◽  
A. A. Melnikova
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Social Conflicts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Modern Russian

The article considers the contradictions and conflicts that are characteristic of modern Russian society. The processes of social disintegration are analyzed and interpreted as a result of fundamental social and economic transformations. The problems of economic inequality are presented in the historical perspective in close connection with the previous stages of Russia's socioeconomic development. Significant polarization of the population is one of the most significant conflict factors in modern society, which leads to an increase in protest moods and may in the long term threaten social upheavals. Nevertheless, dissatisfaction with the socio-economic situation does not lead to ideas of the unification and consolidation of society, but find expression in social conflicts. The emergence and development of social conflicts is influenced by a number of factors: economic, ethnic, religious. One of the most important characteristics of society is its social structure. After the collapse of the USSR, the previous social structure was abolished, and a new social reality was formed in Russia. When considering the stratification structure of society, most attention is paid to the middle class, which is considered the backbone of a stable society. The middle class in Russia is in the stage of formation, it is hardly possible to speak of a complete analogy with the middle class of Western society. The share of middle class in society can be estimated in different ways depending on the methodological approaches used by researchers. An important consequence of the transformation of the social structure was the problem of marginalization, since the dismantling of the old social structure and the slow formation of the new one put the social status and place in the division of labor system of many individuals into question. The sharp impoverishment of representatives of prestigious professions led to a reassessment of their situation, especially for the younger generation. When analyzing the origins of social conflicts in modern Russian society, it is necessary to consider the issue of the attitude of the broad masses of the population to power and national elites. It should be noted that power in Russia historically takes shape around specific leaders and does not have an institutional character. The most significant factor shaping the attitude towards the authorities and the elite in general in Russian society are the economic results of the market reforms that have taken place. Only a small part of the population believes that they won as a result of the changes that have taken place, the natural consequence of which is the population's distrust of the authorities and, in general, political institutions.

“Promising” Ideas: Hobbes and contract in Spinoza’s political philosophy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
The State ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
The Right ◽  
Good And Evil

Like Hobbes, Spinoza prominently invokes promising and contracts (covenants) in his discussion of the foundations of the state—primarily, but not exclusively, in his Theological-Political Treatise. His understanding of their nature and significance, however, differs in important ways from that of Hobbes. This chapter poses four related puzzles concerning Spinoza’s claims about promises and contracts as they invoke or relate specifically to Hobbes: “whether the right of nature is preserved intact”; whether “reason urges peace in all circumstances”; whether breaking a promise is ever “in accordance with reason”; and whether one is obligated to keep a pledge extorted by a robber. Next, it analyzes and compares the doctrines of Hobbes and Spinoza on several key topics: rights and powers, good and evil, reason and passion, and faith and deception (both “evil deception” [“dolus malus”] and “good deception” [“dolus bonus”]). Finally, it employs these doctrines to resolve the four puzzles.

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