THE DISCOURSE OF POWER IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND LITERARY THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION
THE DISCOURSE OF POWER IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND LITERARY THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the discourse of power in the works of a number of Western philosophers and thinkers. The paper opens with Plato and his discussions of the notion in a number of his works. The Italian Renaissance thinker Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince is then discussed. The discussion then moves to Hegel’s section “Lordship and Bondage” of his Phenomenology of the Spirit. Nietzsche's use of the concept of power is presented mainly in light of his Will to Power. The discussion moves on to discuss four literary thinkers, Fanon, Said, Bhabha, and Spivak. Their analyses of the concept of power is important for an understanding of postcolonial theory. The last literary critic dealt with is the feminist critic Judith Butler. The concept of power is discussed in relation to feminist theory. It is hoped that this brief review will offer an understanding of how this concept runs through the writings of these philosophers and thinkers who meet and/or diverge in their understanding of it.

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