Foucault and Spinoza: philosophies of immanence and the decentred political subject

Over the last few decades, philosophers such as Althusser, Negri, Balibar, and Macherey have turned to the works of Spinoza as a means for re-invigorating radical political theory and practice. As Montag argues, rather than being conceived as a theory or a doctrine Spinoza’s materialist philosophy of immanence is more a mode of strategic manoeuvrer through the philosophical field, rooting out all vestiges of idealism. At the same time, Spinoza is seen to anticipate The German Ideology in his notion that erroneous beliefs have an objective, determinate existence, are intelligible, and ultimately can be overcome. Moreover, in attacking Hobbesian notions of treaty on the basis of a unique theory of power, Spinoza’s political philosophy already contains the seeds of a critique of the Liberal theories of contract that have yet to appear. Although Foucault’s major works were also published over this same period it is hard to find the trace of any influence over them that could be sourced directly or indirectly from Spinoza. Yet Gilles Deleuze, a close friend and sympathetic traveller with Foucault through many of these years has highlighted a common concern with the notion of immanence, manifest in a shared determination to overcome the transcendental illusions of thought, including those reflected in theories of subjective intentionality and contract-based theories of State power. The objective of this paper is to highlight these shared concerns.