Félix Guattari

フェリックス・ガタリ

Félix Guattari (April 30, 1930 – August 29, 1992) was a French psychotherapist, philosopher, semiologist, and activist. He is best known for his collaborative work with Gilles Deleuze, most notably the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus (1972) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980). Guattari's work is widely influential across a range of disciplines, including critical theory, ecology, and the social sciences. His approach to schizoanalysis, a concept he developed with Deleuze, has had a significant impact on post-structuralism and contemporary philosophy.

Biography

Born in Villeneuve-les-Sablons, Oise, Guattari was involved in the psychoanalytic movement from a young age. He trained under Jacques Lacan in the early 1950s but later distanced himself from Lacanian orthodoxy, seeking a new approach to psychotherapy and analysis. In the 1960s, he met Gilles Deleuze, with whom he would write several influential works. Guattari was also deeply involved in political activism, particularly in the events of May 1968 in France, and his writings reflect a lifelong commitment to revolutionary politics.

Work

Guattari's work is characterized by its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on fields such as semiotics, ecology, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. He is known for concepts such as "ecosophy," which integrates ecological concerns with social and individual issues, and "transversality," which seeks to break down hierarchical distinctions between disciplines and social groups.

Collaboration with Gilles Deleuze

Guattari's collaboration with Deleuze resulted in a series of influential texts that challenge traditional structures of power and thought. Anti-Oedipus critiques psychoanalytic conceptions of the family and society, proposing instead a model of desire that is productive and anarchic. A Thousand Plateaus expands on these ideas, offering a critique of hierarchical and binary thinking through the concept of the "rhizome," a non-hierarchical model of knowledge and cultural exchange.

Legacy

Guattari's work continues to be influential in contemporary thought, particularly in fields such as cultural studies, environmental studies, and political theory. His interdisciplinary approach and radical critique of power structures have inspired new ways of thinking about society, ecology, and the self.

Selected Works

• Anti-Oedipus (with Gilles Deleuze, 1972)
• A Thousand Plateaus (with Gilles Deleuze, 1980)
• Chaosmosis (1992)
• The Three Ecologies (1989)

See Also

• Post-structuralism
• Schizoanalysis
• Ecophilosophy