Argues that understanding Deleuze's relationship to Leibniz is essential for a full understanding of Deleuze's philosophyThroughout Deleuze's work, we find two opposing characterisations of Leibniz. On the one hand, Deleuze presents Leibniz as a conservative theologian committed to justifying the order and harmony of a God-governed world. On the other, Leibniz appears as a revolutionary thinker credited with 'the most insane concept creation we have ever witnessed in philosophy'.Alex Tissandier traces Leibniz's ambiguous status for Deleuze to explain two key ideas in Deleuze's own philosophy: a concept of difference that is not reducible to a relation of contradiction and an account of the genesis of the world that does not presuppose the structure of representation.

Part I: Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza1. Leibniz, Spinoza and the anti-Cartesian reaction2. Leibniz and ExpressionPart II: Difference and Repetition and Logic of Sense3. Deleuze's critique of representation4. A Leibnizian worldPart III: The Fold5. Material folds and the lower level of the Baroque House6. Spiritual folds and the upper level of the Baroque HouseConclusion: The New DiscordBibliography

Alex Tissandier completed a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Warwick in 2014 and is now an independent scholar.