A Study On Deleuze’s Thought Of Becoming

Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), a unique French philosopher, has been one of the most important contemporary thinkers. His philosophy, well-known for its broadness and heterogeneity, traverses different fields and has exerted a great influence on contemporary thoughts. Based on the close reading of Deleuze’s texts, this dissertation tries to trace the sources of Deleuze’s thought of becoming, and its formation and development in different stages of Deleuze’s life. By doing so, this dissertation also plans to reveal multiple dimensions of Deleuze’s thought of becoming.Deleuze starts his academic career by doing research on philosophical history. Formed during this early period, his thought of becoming has questioned the traditional ontology of "being". Deleuze’s theory of becoming is deeply rooted in his study on Spinoza, Bergson, Nietzsche, and even Heraclitus. Quite different from the ontology of "being", Deleuze’s philosophy of becoming means "the being of becoming", which represents the unity of "becoming" and "being", the "One" and the "Multiple".Moreover, by setting up his own theory of body, Deleuze also disintegrates the modern subject of "consciousness" built by Descartes. Inspired by Spinoza, Deleuze proves that "body" can break the control from "consciousness", enter into certain correlative connection, and affect each other by contingent encountering. The concept of "desiring-machine" created by Deleuze and Guattari carries on the connectivity of Spinoza’s "body", and carries out the productivity of Nietzsche’s "will to power"."Desiring-machine" is the body in connection and production."Becoming" refers to heterogeneity of time, and of space as well. Most of Deleuzian concepts have something to do with space, for instance,"plateaus","deterritorialization","rhizome","nomad","line of flight","smooth space", and so on. These open and heterogeneous spacial forms vividly display Deleuze’s thought of "becoming"."Space" in Deleuze’s sense means continuous deterritorialization and reterritorialization. It is always in the process of opening, becoming and creating. Such space-in-becoming belongs to philosophical creation, which is especially experimental. "Becoming-minoritarian" is another indispensable dimension of Deleuze’s "becoming"."Becoming-animal","becoming-woman", or "becoming-child" could be interpreted as the deterritorialization from certain subject and authority on different levels. Through deterritorialization, the minoritarians escape from bondage and suppression. Therefore,"becoming" is a way of flight and resistance for minoritarians. At last, what Deleuze means by "becoming" relates to the becoming of non-human, or impersonal life. The ultimate direction of "becoming" is to back to the pure immanence, back to pure life.