The Body without organs is an image used by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. It usually refers to the deeper reality underlying some well-formed whole constructed from fully functioning parts. At the same time, it may also describe a relationship to one's literal body.
Deleuze began using the term in The Logic of Sense (1969), while discussing the experiences of schizophrenic playwright Antonin Artaud. "Body without Organs" (or "BwO") later became a major part of the vocabulary for Capitalism and Schizophrenia, two volumes (Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus ) written collaboratively with Félix Guattari. In these works, the term took on an expanded meaning, referring variously to literal bodies and to a certain perspective on realities of any type. The term's overloaded meaning is provocative, perhaps intentionally.
Read more about Body Without Organs: Early Uses, Capitalism and Schizophrenia
Famous quotes containing the words body and/or organs:
“I know that I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“My advice to people today is as follows: If you take the game of life seriously, if you take your nervous system seriously, if you take your sense organs seriously, if you take the energy process seriously, you must turn on, tune in, and drop out.”
—Timothy Leary (b. 1920)