The Novel of Spinozism

The aim of this paper is to familiarize the reader with Spinozist literature as introduced in the writings of Gilles Deleuze. I contend that the reception of Spinoza’s philosophy among literary writers exhibits more than just an interest in his work but something of value to understanding his philosophy. In fact, Spinozist literature may offer a way of broadening our understanding of Spinoza’s concept of common notions, a crucial element of his thought that saw little explication in his own writings. The purpose of this essay, then, is four-fold: 1) historical – to situate Deleuze’s reading of Spinoza in a historical context, 2) archaeological – to speculate on factors motivating Deleuze’s reading of Spinoza, 3) conceptual – to determine how common notions figure into Deleuze’s reading, and 4) evaluative – to characterize Spinozist literature as a way of experimenting with common notions and comment on the potential significance of such a literary genre.