ABSTRACT
Gilles Deleuze describes himself as “a classic philosopher,” a “pure metaphysician,” who is doing “philosophy, nothing but philosophy, in the traditional sense of the word.” Deleuze’s contribution to the study of the comic, laughter and humor lies in the central roles he assigns to these terms within his philosophy, once he redefines them to fit its goal or conceptualizes some of them as characters or “conceptual personae.” According to Deleuze, Nietzsche proposes the affirmation of difference over against its Hegelian assimilation through negation and contradiction: “For the speculative element of negation, opposition or contradiction, Nietzsche substitutes the practical element of difference: object of affirmation and pleasure”. It is the Stoics, as the Cynics’ heirs, who significantly explore the role of laughter in attaining to the good life. Before elaborating on Deleuze’s theory of individuation, it is helpful to recall the main innovations that Deleuze prides himself in bringing to the reading of Nietzsche.
