stankovic, sasa thesis.pdf - Atrium - University of Guelph

ody Deleuze calls the dominant forces active forces and the dominated forces the reactive
forces. “In a body the superior or dominant forces are known as active and the inferior or
dominating forces are known as reactive” (NP 40). What is it that determines the active and the
reactive natures of forces in a body? In other words, if the body is nothing other than the
relationship of the active and reactive forces what it is that determines its nature?
Forces do not enter into a relationship with other forces in the body as already
determined. If that were the case then forces would in fact exist on their own, that is, apart from
the body. But they do not. For this reason, it is not the case that the nature of forces is determined
prior to the existence of the bodies. Instead, the nature of forces is determined in the bodies. But
to the extent that the body is the relationship of forces means that the nature of forces is
determined in their relationship with other forces. In this sense, force is actually always already a
multiplicity. In other words, not only is it the case that there are no forces prior to bodies. For
this reason, it is also the case that there is no force before there is another force. Thus Deleuze’s
point is that the body is the relationship of the active and reactive forces and that the active and
reactive natures of forces are determined precisely in that relationship. What is it about this
relationship that determines some forces as active and other forces as reactive? This point is
fundamental. In order to explain the determination of the nature of forces in the body, Deleuze
gives an interpretation of Nietzsche’s concept of the will to power. Specifically, Deleuze argues
that it is the will to power that determines the relationship of forces within the body. “The will to
power is the genetic element of force, that is to say the element that produces the quality due to
each force in this relation” (NP 53). The will to power relates forces to each other, synthesizes
them, and determines their nature. “We should not be surprised by the word ‘will’; which one
apart from the will is capable of serving as the principle of a synthesis of forces by determining
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