Do Nietzsche's critiques of Spinoza apply to Deleuze?

Whenever I ask someone what Deleuze's axiology is based on, they always tell me that its about whatever "increases power/the capacity to act." To me, this feels as though its doing the same thing Nietzsche would have critiqued, that is, building up power and constantly improving one's position to no end. It really feels like Deleuze loses the tragic element of Nietzsche's philosophy that someone like Bataille keeps. It seems like Deleuze once again adopts some prescriptive guidelines for one's imperative, that isn't unique to the individual, rather than what descriptive ranking that remains individual like Nietzsche outlines against Kant in The Antichrist. In sections like On the Gift Giving Virtue in Thus Spoke Zarathustra it seems like Nietzsche affirms more of a desire to burn and expend one's energy, which the Deleuzian framing of "fufilling one's flourishing" seems to be missing. Am I misreading Deleuze?

Posted Feb 19, 2026, 3:39 PM UTC

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