Deconstruction of human nature using the concept of “desiring machines” in Deleuze and Guattari’s work “Anti-Oedipus”

The article reveals the attempt of postmodernist authors J. Deleuze and F. Guattari to deconstruct human nature through the mechanical separation of processes associated with desires, referred to as “desiring machines.” Thus, there is a rejection of the idea of a holistic human “I” in favor of considering anthropological reality as a set of flows and cross-sections. The mechanization of desires presupposes their autonomization, disconnection from the image of human nature, and inclusion in the schizophrenic world without distinction. The author notes that thanks to such deconstruction, an attempt is made to justify the need for a capitalist structure of society, in which it is possible to combine production and consumption without loss of resources, and the cycle of desires becomes endless. The necessity of accepting the existence of “desiring machines” and their freedom, postulated by Deleuze and Guattari, is questioned. The reality that is described by this concept cannot be identified either empirically or phenomenologically; it is performative and indicates only a special mode of consciousness. The main problem of the approach proposed by postmodernists is that the regime of the “desiring machine” can only be reproduced in special situations, such as the situation of organized leisure, which do not exhaust the entire diversity of human life. Considering each desire as a separate and unique flow is contrary to common sense, which indicates the typicality of needs and the aspirations that follow them. The individuality of desires also turns out to be questionable in the light of social and cultural analysis of their formation based on people’s imitation of each other. The desiring machines described by Deleuze and Guattari cannot be considered a full-fledged alternative to human nature but are only one aspect of the modern capitalist system.