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Full Idea
The history of philosophy has always been the agent of power in philosophy, and even in thought. It has played the oppressor's role: how can you think without having read Plato, Descartes, Kant and Heidegger.
Gist of Idea
The history of philosophy is an agent of power: how can you think if you haven't read the great names?
Source
Gilles Deleuze (A Conversation: what is it? What is it for? [1977], I)
Book Ref
Deleuze,Gilles: 'Dialogues II' [Continuum 2006], p.10
A Reaction
I find it hard to relate to this French 1960s obsession with everybody being oppressed in every conceivable way, so that 'liberation' is the only value that matters. If you ask why liberty is needed, you seem to have missed the point.
| 19579 | The history of philosophy is just experiments in how to do philosophy [Novalis] |
| 19441 | All philosophies presuppose their historical moment, and arise from it [Feuerbach] |
| 8000 | He who is ignorant of the history of philosophy is doomed to repeat it [Santayana, by MacIntyre] |
| 18730 | The history of philosophy only matters if the subject is a choice between rival theories [Wittgenstein] |
| 21844 | The history of philosophy is an agent of power: how can you think if you haven't read the great names? [Deleuze] |
| 13860 | We can only learn from philosophers of the past if we accept the risk of major misrepresentation [Wright,C] |
| 16604 | Philosophy consists of choosing between Plato, Aristotle and Democritus [Pasnau] |
| 16606 | Original philosophers invariably seek inspiration from past thinkers [Pasnau] |