Body Without Organs

About

The Body Without Organs is a philosophical concept attributed to French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and expanded upon in collaboration with fellow philosopher Félix Guattari. While the catchphrase can be interpreted in a number of different ways, the ambiguity in deciphering it has led to various creators making memes about a "body without organs." These memes range from humorous depictions of the concept to the difficult act of explaining it. Memes about a "body without organs" grew exponentially after 2019.

Origin

The "body without organs," as discussed by philosopher Gilles Deleuze in The Logic of Sense (1969) and alongside Félix Guattari in Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1972), is a concept that describes the unbridled potentialities of a body that is not structured by its constitutional parts (i.e. "organs").

The earliest known viral reference to the "body without organs" is a memorable 4chan greentext post (known as Explain Deleuze To Me) that was turned into a copypasta following its initial appearance on 4chan's /lit/^[1] board on March 22nd, 2017 (seen below).

On September 23rd, 2017, the Facebook^[2] page The Void Behind the Meme posted a meme in which the body without organs was referred to as BwO, resembling an emoticon (seen below).

Spread

On January 31st, 2019, the Facebook^[3] page Spinozo-Deleuzian Memes without Organs posted a meme about the concept, gathering over 400 likes in four years (seen below, left). On June 29th, the Facebook^[4] page then posted another meme about the body without organs, gathering over 500 likes in four years (seen below, right).

On August 10th, 2019, Redditor^[5] CaiSant posted a meme about a body without organs to /r/Deleuze, asking people to explain it to them (seen below, left). On November 6th, the Facebook^[6] page The Phenomenology of Spiritual Memes posted a meme using the Buff Guys Explaining template, gathering over 200 likes in four years (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References