Gilles Deleuze and the Atheist Machine: The Achievement of Philosophy

by F. LeRon Shults

Overview

In What is Philosophy?, Deleuze argued that atheism is not a drama but ‘the philosopher’s serenity and philosophy’s achievement.’
LeRon Shults illustrates the uses and effects of an ‘atheist machine’ throughout Deleuze’s work, demonstrating its central role in his philosophical achievements in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics.
Shults also brings Deleuze’s philosophy into dialogue with recent advances in computational social simulation, specifically multi-agent artificial intelligence modelling. Framing his argument in the context of empirical findings and theoretical developments in the scientific study of religion, he points toward the potentially creative role of atheist assemblages in addressing societal challenges associated with the Anthropocene.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399529600
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	12/31/2025
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

F. LeRon Shults is Professor at the Institute for Global Development and Planning at the University of Agder and Research Professor at the NORCE Center for Modeling Social Systems in Kristiansand, Norway. He is the author of Iconoclastic Theology: Gilles Deleuze and the Secretion of Atheism (EUP, 2014) and Practicing Safe Sects: Religious Reprodution in Scientific and Philosophical Perspective (Brill, 2018). He is co-editor of Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis of Religion (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Atheism as Philosophy’s Achievementi.Achieving atheismii.The speculative and practical purposes of philosophyiii.Given philosophy, what machine can produce it? iv.Given an atheist machine, what can it be used for? v. Philosophy and computational simulation machines

2. Assembling the Atheist Machinei.Alliance and fighters and bias – oh my!ii.The assemblage of (a)theismiii.Deleuzian social machines and the bio-cultural sciences of religioniv.Becoming-atheist: naturalism and secularismv.10,000 years of nonlinear, social-machinic history

3. The Reversal of Platonism and the Rise of Simulationi.The reversal of Platonismii.The rise of simulationiii.DeLanda on multiplicities and mechanism-independenceiv.Virtual phase space and actual simulationsv.The achievement of Deleuze’s metaphysics

4. Assemblage Theory and Multi-Agent Artificial Intelligence Modelingi.Theorizing assemblages in human geographyii.A thousand abstract machinesiii.DeLanda’s assemblage theory and the simulation of emergenceiv.Emergent social assemblages in multi-agent artificial intelligence modelingv.Simulating sustainable social assemblages

5. Simulating (Non)Religioni.The modeling religion project(s)ii.The causes and consequences of "religion"iii.Micro, meso, and macro level mechanisms in religious radicalizationiv.Computational models that predict (and prevent) theismv.The achievement of Deleuze’s metaepistemology

6. Strategies for Promoting Safe SectsiThe (mal)adaptiveness of theismii.Talking about safe sectsiii.Experimenting with safe sectsiv.Prebunking theismv.Sustainable altruism in the Anthropocene

7. A Germ of Tranquil Atheismi.How Christ was born(e)ii.How Christianity will dieiii.Theist credulity and conformity biases in "philosophy of religion"iv.Computer modeling and philosophy of religionv.The achievement of Deleuze’s metaethics

8. How Do You Make Yourself an Atheist Body without Organs? i.To be done with the Judgment of Godii.A joy immanent to desireiii.Becoming-sorcereriv.The brain-subjectv.The philosopher’s serenity

ReferencesIndex

Editorial Reviews

Not since DeLanda’s Philosophy and Simulation has there been so penetrating an analysis of the philosophic consequences of systems thinking. Shults has found the atheist machine and wants us all to know that there’s no turning it off.

Wesley J Wildman