Opening the Unthought: The Game-play of Deleuze and Axelos

This article examines the philosophical concept of the unthought in Kostas Axelos and Gilles Deleuze. It challenges anthropocentric perspectives by exploring the inherent limitations of thought itself. In this light, the article aims to create a unique perspective for exploring the concept of the unthought. Specifically, this study attempts to strengthen Axelos’s significance in navigating Deleuze’s intellectual influences. It is argued that the connection between Axelos and Deleuze fosters a form of planetary consciousness that escapes any straightforward anthropocentric thinking. Grounded in an open-system framework, it moves beyond the limitations of traditional ways of thinking and paves the way for an ahuman mode of philosophical inquiry. That said, the concept of the open critically examines the boundaries of thought, yet all the while recognises the complex risks involved in thinking beyond traditional modes of philosophical reflection. In this context, Axelos, the philosopher of play par excellence, and Deleuze, the philosopher of difference par excellence, engage in a form of Nietzschean game-play. Through them we can readdress the concept of the unthought and consider the possibility for thinking beyond nihilism.