Immanence, univocity and expression. Spinoza's ontology of substance from the interpretation of Gilles Deleuze

In this article we will focus on the core notion of Spinoza's ontology: substance. From the Deleuzian point of view, the categories of "immanence", "univocity" and "expression" present show us the fundamental guidelines when it comes to constituting a true ontology. First, we will address why Deleuze considers that aspects of expression are also categories of immanence. Indeed, the concepts of expression and immanence reciprocally imply each other: immanence reveals itself to be expressive; the expression, immanent. Here we will take care of periodizing and contextualizing the theory of expression, whose origin can be traced back to medieval philosophy with the double complicatio-explicatio movement. Finally, we will try to reveal the reading that Deleuze carries out in his Scotist interpretation of Spinoza. According to the French philosopher, Spinoza extremes the possibilities of expressive immanent through the use of Scotist ideas, according to which he manages to compose ontology in a rigorous sense. The notions of univocity and formal distinction make it possible to maintain joined the substance with the plurality of modes through the same order for all the attributes. Thus, Spinoza affirms immanence as a principle and release expression from any subordination to an emanative or exemplary cause that necessarily implies the idea of transcendence.