Argues that understanding Deleuze's relationship to Leibniz is essential for a full understanding of Deleuze's philosophy

Throughout Deleuze's work, we find two opposing characterisations of Leibniz. On the one hand, Deleuze presents Leibniz as a conservative theologian committed to justifying the order and harmony of a God-governed world. On the other, Leibniz appears as a revolutionary thinker credited with 'the most insane concept creation we have ever witnessed in philosophy'.

Alex Tissandier traces Leibniz's ambiguous status for Deleuze to explain two key ideas in Deleuze's own philosophy: a concept of difference that is not reducible to a relation of contradiction and an account of the genesis of the world that does not presuppose the structure of representation.

Part I: Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza
1. Leibniz, Spinoza and the anti-Cartesian reaction
2. Leibniz and Expression

Part II: Difference and Repetition and Logic of Sense
3. Deleuze's critique of representation
4. A Leibnizian world

Part III: The Fold
5. Material folds and the lower level of the Baroque House
6. Spiritual folds and the upper level of the Baroque House

Conclusion: The New Discord
Bibliography

Alex Tissandier completed a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Warwick in 2014 and is now an independent scholar.