Michel Foucault's Metaphysics
Michel Foucault (1926 - 1984) is considered by many the greatest thinker of the 20th century. His most famous work focuses on two things: sexuality and its construction (his concern with this issue was always at hand; he was openly, albeit quietly, homosexual ), which he discusses in three volumes of The History of Sexuality - which took almost twenty years to complete - and the structure of power in society, which he discusses mostly in Power/Knowledge but also in other works. Foucault generally rejected those tenets of society that many hold dear; he smoked marijuana, did LSD and opium, and partook in many other socially stigmatized activities. In this essay, we will discuss only the metaphysics of knowledge, discourse, and truth in terms of Foucault's power theories. In Power/Knowledge, Foucault contends that "...in a society such as ours... there are manifold relations of power that permeate, characterize and constitute the social body, and these relations of power cannot themselves be established, consolidated, nor implemented without the production, accumulation, circulation and functioning of a discourse." At the most basic level, he argues, power is situated in various social practices and norms, and this power is
When he died, he was called "the personification of what an intellectual ought to be: quick to condemn, determined to expose abuses of power, unafraid to echo Émile Zola's old battle cry, 'J'accuse!'" He fought for prison reform, for gay rights. This ambiguity is one of the most glaring faults of his philosophy - how can we accept it, critics cry, if we don't even understand it completely? Furthermore, because so much of society is defined by power, truth is not a thing to be trusted. He fought, and fought the terrifying power of all society, and that is what makes him so admirable. truth isn't the reward of free spirits, the child of protracted solitude, nor the privilege of those who have succeeded in liberating themselves. manifested through the facilitation of discourse. A 'regime' of truth"; third, the "diffusion and consumption" of truth via societal apparatuses; fourth, the control of the distribution of truth by "political and economic apparatuses"; and fifth, the fact that it is "the issue of a whole political debate and social confrontation," that it can never be reconciled. Foucault's anarchistic undertones intrigue me. For example, "having a specialist knowledge in a unique discourse allows a psychiatrist to have unique power and control. In such a system, the goal of every institution is not to exclude anybody, but to include; such a society demands that as many people as possible are rendered docile and are able to produce and contribute. '" He was a symbol of courage in politics.
Common topics in this essay:
Power/Knowledge Foucault,
Reading Foucault,
Foucault Truth,
Bentham's Panopticon,
Intuitively Foucault's,
Nietzsche Foucault,
Michel Foucault,
History Sexuality,
effects power,
society power,
power society,
regular discourse,
nietzsche foucault,
power truth,
abnormal people,
outside power,
truth isn't,
relations power,
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