A close reading of Deleuze’s major text on desire
The engagement of Deleuze with psychoanalysis has led to the development of a remarkable and highly influential theory about human desire. The most systematic account of this theory, crucial for anyone interested in the work of Deleuze and Guattari, can be found in the discussion of the dynamic genesis of sense, a pivotal part of Deleuze’s The Logic of Sense.
In Deleuze and Desire Piotrek Świątkowski picks up the challenge to provide an ad literam commentary of this text. Świątkowski makes use of a broad range of examples, from psychoanalytic case studies to art, literature, and film, and analyses in an accessible and clear way the impact of the work of psychoanalysts such as Melanie Klein on Deleuze.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Chapter 1
Introduction
1. Debate
2. The dynamic genesis and Melanie Klein
3. Approach and organisation of the text
Chapter 2
Schizoid position
1. Introduction
2. Fundamental concepts
3. The dynamism of the paranoid-schizoid position according to Melanie Klein
4. The simulacrum and Plato
5. The schizoid position
6. Artaud, language and schizophrenia
7. Conclusion
Chapter 3
Depressive position
1. Introduction
2. The manic-depressive position of Melanie Klein
3. The depressive position according to Deleuze: the object of the heights
4. Good object as lost object
5. Lack and affirmation in the depressive position
6. Body, language and the depressive position
7. Conclusion
Chapter 4
Sexual-perverse position
1. Introduction
2. Pre-genital phase of the sexual-perverse position: surface of the body
3. The physical surface and the defusion of the drives
4. Sexual position -; discussion with Laplanche and Pontalis
5. Pre-genital sexuality -; relation towards structures
6. Genital sexuality
7. The Oedipus complex
8. The genital phase of the sexual-perverse position: relationship to structures
9. Conclusion
Chapter 5
Oedipus complex and beyond
1. Introduction
2. Oedipal desire and narcissism
3. Castration complex
4. Emergence of the metaphysical surface
5. The decline of the good intentions
6. Metaphysical surface and the drives
7. The crack in the metaphysical surface -; the dangers of the post-castration phase
8. Conclusion
Chapter 6
The phantasm
1. Introduction
2. The phantasm and the body
3. The quasi-cause and the ideational surface
4. Psychoanalysis as science of events
5. The phantasm and the ego in psychoanalysis
6. Neutral energy and disjunctive synthesis
7. Love and nationalism
Chapter 7
Conclusion
1. Psychoanalysis
2. Philosophical implications
3. The Logic of Sense and the collaboration with Guattari
References
Index
Systematische analyse van 'The Logic of Sense', Gilles Deleuzes psychoanalytische theorie over het menselijk verlangen. Hierin weerlegt de Franse filosoof Deleuze Jacques Lacans structuralistische psychoanalyse diestelt dat het menselijk verlangen kan geanalyseerd worden door middel van een universele structuur. De analyse van het menselijk verlangen betekende voor Deleuze het begin van zijn samenwerking met de Franse psychoanalyticus Felix Guattari. Academicus Swiatkowski voorziet in een letterlijke commentaar van deze tekst en illustreert met gevalsbeschrijvingen uit de psychoanalyse en voorbeelden uit kunst, literatuur en film.
Psyche, Jaargang 27 nr 4, december 2015 - januari - februari 2016
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Deleuze and Desire" about?
A close reading of Deleuze’s major text on desire
The engagement of Deleuze with psychoanalysis has led to the development of a remarkable and highly influential theory about human desire. The most systematic account of this theory, crucial for anyone interested in the work of Deleuze and Guattari, can be found in the discussion of the dynamic genesis of sense, a pivotal part of Deleuze’s The Logic of Sense.
In Deleuze and Desire Piotrek Świątkowski picks up the challenge to provide an ad literam commentary of this text. Świątkowski makes use of a broad range of examples, from psychoanalytic case studies to art, literature, and film, and analyses in an accessible and clear way the impact of the work of psychoanalysts such as Melanie Klein on Deleuze.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Who edited "Deleuze and Desire"?
"Deleuze and Desire" was edited by Piotrek Świątkowski.
Piotrek Świątkowski is associated researcher at the Centre for Contemporary European Philosophy of Radboud University Nijmegen.
Is "Deleuze and Desire" part of a series?
Yes, "Deleuze and Desire" is part of the "Figures of the Unconscious" series. It's book 14 in the series.
In collaboration with the International Society for Psychoanalysis and Philosophy (SIPP-ISPP).

The peer-reviewed book series Figures of the Unconscious was founded in 2001 and provides a platform for exchange at the intersection of philosophy and psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis occupies a crucial position within contemporary philosophical thinking and many analysts are influenced by philosophical approaches.
Both philosophy and psychoanalysis are concerned with the nature of the subject, questions of knowledge and epistemology, sexuality, life and death, ethical issues, alterity, and the subject’s manifold relationships to the other - to other human and non-human beings and to its environment.
We welcome manuscripts in the areas and at the intersections of
- the history of psychoanalysis and Freudian thought
- the exploration of psychoanalytic concepts and the development of theories
- the research and development of the psychoanalytic movement
- psychoanalytic and philosophical concepts and ideas
- psychoanalysis, gender and queer studies
- interdisciplinary approaches that combine psychoanalysis with other scientific disciplines
- current developments in psychoanalytic approaches
- ethical approaches in psychoanalysis
- epistemological debates
Editors-in-Chief
Beatriz Santos (Université de Paris)
Herman Westerink (Radboud University)
Esther Hutfless (Sigmund Freud University Linz)
Editorial board
Jeff Bloechl (Boston College)
Advisory Board
Jozef Corveleyn (KU Leuven)
Monique David-Ménard (Université de Paris)
Rodrigo De La Fabián (Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago de Chile)
Jens De Vleminck (Leuven)
Eran Dorfman (University of Tel Aviv)
Laurie Laufer (Université de Paris)
Elissa Marder (Emory University, Atlanta)
Claire Nioche (Université Paris XIII)
Vladimir Safatle (Universidade de São Paulo)
Charles Shepherdson (State University of New York at Albany)
Guillaume Silbertin Blanc (Université Paris 8)
Raluca Soreanu (University of Essex)
Celine Surprenant (Paris)
Antônio Teixeira (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais)
Johan Van Der Walt (University of Luxemburg)
Wilfried Ver Eecke (Georgetown University)
Proposals
The board accepts manuscripts for review from both members and non-members of the SIPP-ISPP. These can be either monographs or edited volumes, provided they align with the aims and scope of the series.
Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors-in-chief.
Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.
Links & Resources
What is the Table of Contents for "Deleuze and Desire"?
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Chapter 1
Introduction
1. Debate
2. The dynamic genesis and Melanie Klein
3. Approach and organisation of the text
Chapter 2
Schizoid position
1. Introduction
2. Fundamental concepts
3. The dynamism of the paranoid-schizoid position according to Melanie Klein
4. The simulacrum and Plato
5. The schizoid position
6. Artaud, language and schizophrenia
7. Conclusion
Chapter 3
Depressive position
1. Introduction
2. The manic-depressive position of Melanie Klein
3. The depressive position according to Deleuze: the object of the heights
4. Good object as lost object
5. Lack and affirmation in the depressive position
6. Body, language and the depressive position
7. Conclusion
Chapter 4
Sexual-perverse position
1. Introduction
2. Pre-genital phase of the sexual-perverse position: surface of the body
3. The physical surface and the defusion of the drives
4. Sexual position -; discussion with Laplanche and Pontalis
5. Pre-genital sexuality -; relation towards structures
6. Genital sexuality
7. The Oedipus complex
8. The genital phase of the sexual-perverse position: relationship to structures
9. Conclusion
Chapter 5
Oedipus complex and beyond
1. Introduction
2. Oedipal desire and narcissism
3. Castration complex
4. Emergence of the metaphysical surface
5. The decline of the good intentions
6. Metaphysical surface and the drives
7. The crack in the metaphysical surface -; the dangers of the post-castration phase
8. Conclusion
Chapter 6
The phantasm
1. Introduction
2. The phantasm and the body
3. The quasi-cause and the ideational surface
4. Psychoanalysis as science of events
5. The phantasm and the ego in psychoanalysis
6. Neutral energy and disjunctive synthesis
7. Love and nationalism
Chapter 7
Conclusion
1. Psychoanalysis
2. Philosophical implications
3. The Logic of Sense and the collaboration with Guattari
References
Index
Related titles
Psychoanalysis on Borders, Limits and Beyond
Yianna Ioannou (Editor), Izzy Powis (Editor), Sinziana Ravini (Editor), Léa Silveira (Editor), Jamieson Webster (Editor),
November 2026
Seduction, Drive and Repetition
Herman Westerink (Author), Philippe Van Haute (Author),
September 2025
Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking
Herman Westerink (Editor), Jenny Willner (Editor), Philippe Van Haute (Editor),
January 2025
Thoughts for the Times on Groups and Masses
Daniela Finzi (Editor), Jeanne Wolff Bernstein (Editor),
January 2025
Truth and Suffering
Paulo Beer (Author), Nelson da Silva Júnior (Preface by), Renata Takatu (Translator),
March 2024
Ferenczi Dialogues
Raluca Soreanu (Author), Jakob Staberg (Author), Jenny Willner (Author),
January 2026
Towards a Political Anthropology in the Work of Gilles Deleuze
Rockwell F. Clancy (Author),
February 2015
Psychoanalysis, Monotheism and Morality
Wolfgang Müller Funk (Editor), Inge Scholz Strasser (Editor), Herman Westerink (Editor), Daniela Finzi (),
March 2013
Everyday Extraordinary: Encountering Fetishism with Marx, Freud and Lacan
Christopher M. Gemerchak (Editor), Paul Moyaert (Editor),
November 2004
Psychosis: Phenomenological and Psychoanalytical Approaches
Jozef Corveleyn (Editor), Paul Moyaert (Editor),
February 2003
Seduction, Suggestion, Psychoanalysis
Jozef Corveleyn (Editor), Philippe Van Haute (Editor),
May 2001
