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Essays on Deleuze
Gathers 20 of Smith’s new and classic essays into one volume for the first time. Combining his most important pieces over the last 15 years along with two completely new essays, ‘On the Becoming of Concepts’ and ‘The Idea of the Open’, this volume is Smith’s definitive treatise on Deleuze. The four sections cover Deleuze’s use of the history of philosophy, his philosophical system, several Deleuzian concepts and his position within contemporary philosophy. Smith’s essays are frequent references for students and scholars working on Deleuze, and Dan Smith is widely regarded as the world’s leading commentator on Deleuze. Several of the articles have already become touchstones in the field, notably those on Alain Badiou and Jacques Derrida. For anyone interested in Deleuze’s philosophy, this book is not to be missed.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 28, 2017
Daniel Smith is the kind of philosopher who, given the stretch of Western Philosophy from Plato to Derrida, could have probably written on just about anything and anyone - and he would have been marvellous at it too. That he’s chosen the work of Gilles Deleuze to exercise his scholarly magic upon then, is nothing less than a gift and a blessing to all who’ve struggled to come to grips with the challenge and the splendour of the Frenchman’s imposing oeuvre. Reading Smith though, makes the answer to the question - why Deleuze?; or even, why an entire collection of essays on Deleuze? - entirely clear. In his hands, Deleuze stands less as proper name than it does a veritable philosophical machine, one able to churn through the entire tradition while standing it on its head, rethinking and rejigging not just philosophy’s perennial questions - on ethics, on aesthetics, on desire, on life itself - but the very place of philosophy among today’s intellectual landscape.
Indeed, one almost feels at times that Deleuze is less the subject of this book than its motivating wind, enabling Smith to explore shores far beyond the narrow inlet so often occupied by studies of Deleuze. The essay on Leibniz for instance, is easily one of the best written and clearest expositions of the rationalist’s philosophy that I know, able to stand on its own as a piece of scholarship with or without the references to Deleuze. So too are the early, ‘historical' essays on Plato, Univocity and Kantianism worthy of study in their own right, shedding light on spans of philosophical history that in truth, anyone with an interest in the field ought to read. But even saying this is to undersell the book, which for all its far flung concerns - and more than likely because of them - is simply the best collection of writing I know on Deleuze’s own philosophy.
After all, not just historical contextualisation, but conceptual precision is what truly makes this the stunning collection of essays that it is. Consider, for instance, the essay on ‘The New’, which presents itself as a ‘deduction of Deleuzian concepts’ clustered around the question of novelty: pursuing a line of thought that runs through the Kantian question regarding the conditions of experience, the ‘logic’ of relations, the status of calculus in Deleuze’s reading, an engagement with both Leibniz and Spinoza, and ending with a meditation of the ‘virtual’ in Deleuze’s system, Smith displays not only his absolute mastery of the Deleuzian conceptual universe, but also his flowing, beautifully readable compositional style. But for this clarity alone would Smith’s essays constitute an achievement in themselves.
And while it’s clear there’s simply no possible way to run through each of the twenty, sparkling gems that make up this collection, some other special mentions ought to be made. First, the essay on Alain Badiou is the finest piece of writing in the English language to deal with the convoluted relationship between the two thinkers that I know of. Not only for its original approach to the whole issue (read to find out!), but for its recognition of the deep and inextricable debt that Deleuze owes to mathematical thought. Second, while Smith admits that psychoanalysis isn’t his strong suite (perhaps the one real lacuna of the book), it’s a testament to the power of his abilities that even the essay on Lacan is, for all that, a wonderfully useful primer to that complex field. And don’t get me started on the essay on Life. Just - read it all.
Indeed, one almost feels at times that Deleuze is less the subject of this book than its motivating wind, enabling Smith to explore shores far beyond the narrow inlet so often occupied by studies of Deleuze. The essay on Leibniz for instance, is easily one of the best written and clearest expositions of the rationalist’s philosophy that I know, able to stand on its own as a piece of scholarship with or without the references to Deleuze. So too are the early, ‘historical' essays on Plato, Univocity and Kantianism worthy of study in their own right, shedding light on spans of philosophical history that in truth, anyone with an interest in the field ought to read. But even saying this is to undersell the book, which for all its far flung concerns - and more than likely because of them - is simply the best collection of writing I know on Deleuze’s own philosophy.
After all, not just historical contextualisation, but conceptual precision is what truly makes this the stunning collection of essays that it is. Consider, for instance, the essay on ‘The New’, which presents itself as a ‘deduction of Deleuzian concepts’ clustered around the question of novelty: pursuing a line of thought that runs through the Kantian question regarding the conditions of experience, the ‘logic’ of relations, the status of calculus in Deleuze’s reading, an engagement with both Leibniz and Spinoza, and ending with a meditation of the ‘virtual’ in Deleuze’s system, Smith displays not only his absolute mastery of the Deleuzian conceptual universe, but also his flowing, beautifully readable compositional style. But for this clarity alone would Smith’s essays constitute an achievement in themselves.
And while it’s clear there’s simply no possible way to run through each of the twenty, sparkling gems that make up this collection, some other special mentions ought to be made. First, the essay on Alain Badiou is the finest piece of writing in the English language to deal with the convoluted relationship between the two thinkers that I know of. Not only for its original approach to the whole issue (read to find out!), but for its recognition of the deep and inextricable debt that Deleuze owes to mathematical thought. Second, while Smith admits that psychoanalysis isn’t his strong suite (perhaps the one real lacuna of the book), it’s a testament to the power of his abilities that even the essay on Lacan is, for all that, a wonderfully useful primer to that complex field. And don’t get me started on the essay on Life. Just - read it all.
January 2, 2021
It seems weird to give 5 stars to something like this, but it truly is fantastic. Dan Smith is the best reader of Deleuze I've come across so far. I haven't read all of these essays, but I've read enough to be blown away. As someone who is constantly attempting to write on Deleuze, I've come to find that it is an incredibly arduous and frustrating affair– yet, Smith makes it look so easy. Not only are these essays helpful explications of Deleuze's work, but their application of Deleuze is also fascinating.
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July 3, 2023Deleuze in a skirt
November 20, 2021
It is somewhat inaccurate to say that I "read" Dan Smith's book since it really is a resource to return to again and again. There are so many rich essays here, many of which that have already circulated in different publications, but now, gathered together under separate headings -- I. Deleuze and the History of Philosophy (5 essays), II. Deleuze's Philosophical System (5 essays), III. 5 Deleuzian Concepts (5 essays, concepts: Desire, Life [his magnificent intro to his co-translation of Essays Critical and Clinical], Sensation, The New, The Open), IV. Deleuze and Contemporary Philosophy (5 essays, on Derrida, Badiou, Lacan, Klossowski, and Paul Patton) -- his intelligent and thorough grasp on a wide range of material on Deleuze shines forth unmistakeably. And having edited an essay by Dan for the volume Gilles Deleuze: Key Concepts (Acumen 2005; 2nd ed 2011), I can say that these are not ALL he has written, since his concise essay on the concepts Critical, Clinical might be added as supplement to this very satisfying volume.
Supplement, Nov 2021: I have indeed returned to this work numerous times since writing the review above nearly a decade ago. This book is the gift that keeps on giving, and of course, since its publication, Dan has not at all been idle. More to come!
Supplement, Nov 2021: I have indeed returned to this work numerous times since writing the review above nearly a decade ago. This book is the gift that keeps on giving, and of course, since its publication, Dan has not at all been idle. More to come!
December 17, 2025
Only read around 75% of this but it was great. I read this as an intro to Deleuze's work just so I could familiarize myself with the rhythm of his philosophy and Daniel Smith does a very good job at that - some of the material is still quite cryptic and confusing probably because Deleuze's system feels very alien in the history of western philosophy, but you get the hang of it since the different essays repeat similar topics and terms and because Daniel Smith is an amazing writer (Chapter 1 on Plato is the best).
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews