Deleuze coined the term “dividual”, which emphasizes that the self is not a unified whole but a dynamic multiplicity. He draws on thinkers like Nietzsche and Spinoza, who see existence as a play of forces and relations rather than a fixed essence. He describes reality as composed of assemblages—networks of elements (human, non-human, material, and immaterial) that interact and produce effects. The dividual is a kind of assemblage: a person is not a single “I” but a shifting configuration of desires, affects, and connections, constantly shaped by external forces like technology, capitalism, or social systems.
The dividual undermines the idea of a sovereign subject with free will or fixed identity. Instead, agency is distributed across networks, and “freedom” lies in navigating or resisting these flows (what Deleuze calls “lines of flight”).
This concept of self opens up possibilities for creativity and resistance. Since the dividual is not fixed, it can experiment with new connections, desires, and ways of being. Deleuze’s philosophy often celebrates this potential for “becoming”—the process of creating new identities or possibilities outside rigid structures.