Contributions to an anthropological theory on Deleuze’s reading of Hume

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the anthropological theory that derives from the subjectivity constitution process as we find it in Deleuze's reading of Hume. “Anthropological theory” is understood as a theory that seeks to respond to the problem of interactions between nature and culture, as well to understand the position that the human being occupies within this relationship. We will do this by reconstructing some steps of Empiricism and subjectivity (1953), Deleuze's first book dedicated to Hume's thought, and through occasional incursions into A Treatise of Human Nature, but aiming to reach, also, the theses advanced by the French philosopher in an article entitled “Instinct and Institutions” (1955). With this, it is intended to show that, since his inaugural writings, Deleuze 1) does not consider nature and culture as concepts that limit each other and 2) does not make the human being the privileged object of anthropological investigation, but understands him from the point of view of the relationships that he maintains with non-humans, specifically with animals.