The following is the original source for Deleuze's oft-quoted formulation
of "theory" as a "toolbox." It comes from a recorded conversation, on
the role of intellectuals in politics, between Deleuze and his (then)
close friend Michel Foucault, on March 4, 1972. [1]
"A theory is exactly like a box of tools. It has nothing to do with
the signifier. It must be useful. It must function. And not for
itself. If no one uses it, beginning with the theoretician himself
(who then ceases to be a theoretician), then the theory is worthless
or the moment is inappropriate. We don't revise a theory, but
construct new ones; we have no choice but to make others. It is
strange that it was Proust, an author thought to be a pure
intellectual, who said it so clearly: treat my book as a pair of
glasses directed to the outside; if they don't suit you, find
another pair; I leave it to you to find your own instrument, which
is necessarily an instrument for combat. A theory does not
totalize; it is an instrument for multiplication and it also
multiplies itself. It is in the nature of power to totalize and it
is your position, and one I fully agree with, that theory is by
nature opposed to power. As soon as a theory is enmeshed in a
particular point, we realize that it will never possess the
slightest practical importance unless it can erupt in a totally
different area."
[1] Deleuze, Gilles, and Michel Foucault. "Les intellectuals et le
pouvoir." _L'Arc_ 49 [Special Issue on Deleuze] (1972): 3-10. Rpt.
1980.
[2] "Intellectuals and Power: A Conversation Between Michel Foucault and
Gilles Deleuze." Trans. Donald F. Bouchart and Sherry Simon. In
_Language, Counter-Memory, Practice: Selected Essays and Interviews By
Michel Foucault_. Ed. Bouchart. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press,
1977, pp. 205-217, 208.
An earlier translation, by Mark Seem, was published as "The Intellectuals
and Power: A Discussion Between Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze," in
_Telos_ 16 (Summer 1973): 103-109.
Michael
--
---------------------------Michael J. Current----------------------------
mcurrent@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -or- @picard.infonet.net -or- @nyx.cs.de.edu
Specializing in Philosophy, Queer Studies, Depression, & Unemployment :)
737 - 18th Street, #9 * Des Moines, IA * 50314-1031 *** (515) 283-2142
"AN IMAGE OF THOUGHT CALLED PHILOSOPHY HAS BEEN FORMED HISTORICALLY
AND IT EFFECTIVELY STOPS PEOPLE FROM THINKING." - GILLES DELEUZE
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