The above clip, from “Deleuze A to Z,” features Gilles Deleuze talking about his relation to the philosopher Immanuel Kant.

“Of all the philosophers you have written on, Kant seems the farthest from your thought. However, you have said that all the authors you have studied have something in common,” the interviewer notes.

So why is Deleuze so interest in Kant?

“For two reasons, Deleuze responds. “Kant is present at so many turning points, and he initiates and then pushes something as far as possible, something that had never been advanced in philosophy. Specifically, he establishes tribunals, perhaps under the influence of the French Revolution.”

Deleuze, who notes that he likes to make “characters” of philosophy, notes a historical trend from the philosopher as a lawyer, to an  investigator, and with Kant – a tribunal of reason.

This tribunal of reason, for Deluze, inspires both “horror and fascination,” yet it is “inseparable from the critical method.”