Search results for: foucault in All Content

Subject and power. The problem of critical action in Bourdieu and Foucault

Субект и власт. Проблемът за критическото действие при Бурдийо и Фуко

Author(s): Lea Vajsova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 38/2012

Keywords: subject; power; resistance; action; objectifi cation

The paper traces one of the central questions of contemporary critical philosophy and social theory – the relation between power and subject. “Power” is thought as an element of social relations, as capacity of discourses to codify social fi elds and positions from outside but in the same time as immanent and transformative force that rearranges and changes the social positions, performing power tactics of resistance within the power formed fi eld. The same two-dimensional aspect is presented with respect to the „subject”: on the one hand, the subject is always already subjected, since the subject position is always codifi ed by external power relations. But, on the other hand, “the practices of the self” demonstrate transformative and in this sense affi rmative power that rearranges the already subjected power positions. The analysis is derived from the Pierre Bourdieu’s „refl exive sociology” and from multidimensional studies of Michel Foucault. Other important theories are also those of Judith Butler and Dimitar Vatsov.

Bourdieu and Foucault as an Opportunity for a Historical Sociology of Discursive Practices

Бурдийо и Фуко като шанс за една историческа социология на дискурсивните практики

Author(s): Stoika Penkova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 3-4/2009

The present analysis is an attempt to enlarge the sociological theories about the discourse and discursive practices, in a perspective of a non-classical problematizing, e.g. not the discourse and the discursive practices in themselves, but from the viewpoint of one hidden “logic” of the discursive practices and one established discourse “order”. The Bourdieu’s and Foucault’s critical perspectives are involved as a resource for a sociological reflection, because they further to a great extend one similar way of problematizing of the discourse and the discursive practices in the frames of a general theoretical project of, so called, sociology of the discursive practices. This project develops a specific dialogical space and proposes a “double approach” to the research object: 1. Practical logic approach (“through Bourdieau”), that allows to introduce a definition of the discourse in a non classical perspective. Thus, the discourse is thought as a concrete field of a discursive production, where agents with relevant discursive habituses are included. They are able to perceive and produce a certain discourse throughout their actions in a discursive space, generating discursive practices. 2. Archeology and genealogical analysis (“through Foucault”) allows emphasizing on the discursive orders dimension from the viewpoint of making explicit “rules” and “regularities”, “genesis” and “historical a priori”, sedimented under the shape of “archive”, outlining the logic of a modern order-making of the discourse. The article paragraphs make explicit some of the starting premises, which are basis for a development of such a project. They aim to disclose the theoretical and methodological opportunities of sociology of discursive practices. Such kind of sociology is a historical as an intention as far as it introduces the temporality of the discursive practices and enables their sociological problematizing of a “practical logic of the discourse order” in thus outlined dialogical space.

Michel Foucault: Enlightenment, Critique, Contemporaneity (a book review)

Мишел Фуко: Просвещение, критика, съвременност

Author(s): Atanas Gunov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 05/1998

EUROPE AS A SPIRITUAL SHAPE

Analysis of Opponent Science / History Perspective in Popper and Foucault

Popper ve Foucault'daki Muhalif Bilim / Tarih Perspektifinin Karşilaştirmali Analizi

Author(s): Ruhi Can Alkın / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 59/2009

Keywords: Science; progress; historcism; induction; history; Marxism; power;

That the design of scientific knowledge and history is placed on a progressive and evolutionary basis is on the fundamental points criticized in the works of Foucault and Popper, Popper, adding a new dimension in the philosophy of science, stated that the criterium of scientific knowledge was refutation, not correction and in this context, maintained that the understanding of induction is the focal point of correction was an invalid method. Michael Foucault, with the deep researches he had made, rejected the idea that history consisted of certain laws and proceeded on progressive line. That's the normal wrote the history proceeded on had a number of abnormal elements was pointed out by him with historical and epistemological Analysis made on phenomena such as insanity, sexual heresies and crime. The opposition made against the totalities and absoluteness in science and historical process brought together the criticisms of Marxism which explained history under the understanding of certain laws with the maintenance of being scientific. Both philosophers criticized Marxism on account that it stood on the basis of historicism. In this article, the parallel positions and a common criticism of Carl papa and Michael Foucault in their mental occupations will be discussed.

Foucault’s and Agamben’s Understanding of Biopolitics: A Challenge of Modernity?

Фукоово и Aгамбеново разумевање биополитике: Изазов модерне?

Author(s): Bogdana Koljević / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3/2009

Keywords: biopolitics; Foucault; Agamen; Modernity; political subjectivity; rationalism; genealogy of the present; ethics; creativity;

In this article the author analyses various theoretical conceptions of biopolitics in Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben through the issue of their relation towards Modernity. In confronting divergent standpoints, the author especially focuses on particularities of Foucault’s position, arguing that Foucault’s homo politicus appears as an still uninvestigated possibility of synthesis of politics, ethics and philosophy. In that context, the ways in which Foucault and Agamben relate towards Modernity are presented as decisive for interpretation and understanding of biopolitics and new possibilities of the political. The author concludes in arguing that genealogy of contemporary phenomena of biopolitics, as a continuation of Foucault’s approach in the present, opens up with itself the theoretical possibility for new political subjectivity.

Aesthetic Phenomena in Post-Structural Plots by Michel Foucault

Естетичні феномени у постструктуралістських сюжетах Мішеля Фуко

Author(s): Dariya Skalska / Language(s): Ukrainian / Issue: 1/2007

Keywords: aesthetics; poststructuralism; Michel Foucault;

Дослідження естетичних феноменів у постструктуралістських концептах полягають насамперед у розумінні тих еволюційних процесів, які супроводжують динамічний перехід та співіснування доби Модерну /сучасності/ та Постмодерну /постсучасності/. В них відбилась як специфічна форма антропологізації світогляду, так і ситуація, яку можна позначити станом постантропологічних перспектив. Людська природа та людський світ виявилися надзвичайно багатоликими, внутрішньо суперечливими й неоднозначними, а це призвело до проблеми протистояння і комунікації різних парадигм філософії людини ХХ ст.

Not a Docile Body – A View from the Inside: Michael A. Peters on Foucault

Not a Docile Body – A View from the Inside: Michael A. Peters on Foucault

Author(s): Tina Besley / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: scientific life; Michael A. Peters; Foucault;

I wear two hats as I write this this festschrift on the work of Michael A. Peters: one personal as his partner and wife since 1991, the other as a professional and intellectual partner whom I work and write with from time to time, hence in blending aspects of both, this contribution to Michael’s festschrift is unabashedly an ‘insider’s view.

The Problem of Subjectivity Formation in Foucault's Part of the Hermeneutics of the Subject

Problem formiranja subjektivnosti u Fukoovom delu hermeneutika subjekta

Author(s): Zlatko Jelisavac / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3/2005

Keywords: Foucault; subjectivity; hermeneutics; philosophy; contemporary philosophy; book review;

The review of: Mišel Fuko, Hermeneutika subjekta, Svetovi, Novi Sad 2003

“A Pedagogy of the Self?” – Michel Foucault’s lecture on the history of sexuality

„Pedagogika Siebie?” – Michela Foucault wykład z historii seksualności

Author(s): Ewa Jakimowska / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: postmodernism; subjection (French assujettissement); creativity; autocreation; Pedagogy of the Self

An understanding of what the creative act is in terms of pedagogy is mainly dependenton the assumed conception of creativity. According to various criteria one candistinguish between differing conceptions, posing questions about the subject matterof creativity, the area it refers to, its conditions or effect. In postmodern philosophy,creativity is conceived of – after J. Derrida – as “discovering the Other”: somethingunpredictable, something that had not existed before. It seems that such anunderstanding of creativity inspired Michel Foucault’s interpretations of classicaltexts. In the final two volumes of A History of Sexuality the analysis of sexual reflectionsand advice contained in classical texts gives him a pretext to develop an individual“A Pedagogy of the Self.” It is a story about the autocreation of the subject regardingthe shaping of one’s own needs and the work one does on oneself. The effect is tomake life resemble something of a work of art, being an example for others and theobject of mimetic imitation. And thus, what message – as part of the Pedagogy of the Self – does the philosopher want to leave us with when talking about erotica andlove in antiquity?

Foucault Michel (15 X 1926–25 VI 1984)

Foucault Michel (15 X 1926–25 VI 1984)

Author(s): Karol Muszyński / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: sociology of law; law in social life; legal sociology authors; world sociological and legal writings

The first world encyclopaedic guidebook to the most important problems of the sociology of law. It contains nearly one hundred and fifty entries written by eminent Polish and foreign scholars. It is an excellent source of knowledge of the role and importance of law in social life. It sketches portraits of the most distinguished authors of legal sociology and presents their scientific achievements. It also discusses law subcultures, punitive justice, anthropology and atrophy of law, the destruction of norms, the iuridisation of social life, law nihilism, praxeology and feminist sociology of law.

Crime without reason. Foucault and the problem of criminal responsibility in nineteenth century psychiatry and judiciary

Zbrodnia bez motywu. Foucault i problem poczytalności w psychiatrii i sądownictwie XIX wieku

Author(s): Mateusz Ozimek / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 61/2023

Keywords: Michel Foucault; problematizations; legal psychiatry; Pierre Rivière; instincts; Henriette Cornier

The article refers to the problem of crime without reason described by Michel Foucault. The author presents two cases from the first half of the 19th century – Pierre Rivière and Henriette Cornier. These cases are analyzed in terms of strategies of power adopted by psychiatry and the legal system towards the Other who had committed an inexplicable crime and who could not be described by any of the recognized forms of madness. The impasse between medical and legal discourses is presented as an example of problematization — a method used by Foucault in the last years of his work. One of the consequences of psychiatry’s efforts to solve the problem of crime without motive was the creation of instincts and drives as scientific objects, which shows that such objects can arise at the junction of various power relations and can even be created merely as instruments to exercise power.

FORESEEING THE PAST (Foucault in Iran)

ПРЕДВИЂАЊЕ ПРОШЛОСТИ (Фуко у Ирану)

Author(s): Branko Romčević / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 187/2023

Keywords: journalism; political spirituality; revolt; discontinuity; Michel Foucault; Iran;

In this paper, the author explores Foucault’s newspaper reporting from Iran during the autumn of 1978. It is first demonstrated that his decision to accept the journalistic challenge was not only the result of circumstance, but that it was also influ enced by a series of previously adopted attitudes, above all the one about the need to disengage philosophy from eternity and make it the driving force for the creation of, as he called it, the history of the present. However, his Iranian reports were generally not well received and the impression was that his refusal to take a negative stance towards the revolt against the Shah was an act of enthusiasm for the establishment of a theocratic state. In the central part of the paper, it is proven that Foucault did not write affirmatively about the demands for an Islamic government, but that his refusal to condemn a priori the very idea of an Islamic government was the result of an effort to take a hermeneutically neutral position. Using the method of close reading, it is demonstrated that the main question of Foucault’s journalism – that of political spirituality – is rooted in his strictly theoretical texts, written months before he left for Iran. Furthermore, it is shown that his separation of revolt from revolution, on which the evaluation of Iranian turmoil was based, originates in his books and texts written in the late sixties and early seventies. The key result of this paper is the discovery that the concept of anti-strategic morality, which Foucault mentions for the first and last time in his final text on Iran, is the thread that connects his earlier works with the concept of parrhēsia, to which he would dedicate his last seminar in 1984.

FROM THE CLINIC TO THE UNDERGROUND (FOUCAULT’S INTRODUCTION OF GENEALOGY)

IZ KLINIKE U PODZEMLJE (FUKOOVO UVOĐENJE GENEALOGIJE)

Author(s): Branko Romčević / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: archaeology; genealogy; positivity; discourse;

In this paper we consider the issue of Foucault’s introduction of genealogy. We begin with his Archeology of Knowledge, in which he summarizes his previous work, explaining the elements of the archaeological procedure practiced in earlier books but also expressing somewhat of a dissatisfaction with what he has achieved. In this way, he opens the door for hitherto unnamed but clearly foreshadowed genealogy. At the same time, Foucault neither abandons nor rejects archaeology, but conjoins it with genealogy in order to ensure that a transformation principle as the function of foundation has been established. By focusing on the transition from one phase of his work to another, we reveal that the concept of positivity has the role of a mediator, appearing in Archeology of Knowledge as a rarefied form of positivism (according to Deleuze’s interpretation) and then occuring in a phrase according to which „genealogical mood will be one of happy positivism”. Since positivism is incompatible with the philosophical school of thought to which Foucault believed he belonged, we dedicate the central part of the paper to the issue of positivism in his work. We then turn to genealogy itself, considering not only the text „Nietzsche, Genealogy, History”, the manifesto of Foucault’s late work, but also his „Lecture One: 7 January 1976”. Next, we demonstrate how Foucault implemented his views on genealogy as a pairing of underground and scholarly knowledge in the book Discipline and Punish. Finally, we present Foucault’s stance on archeology as a method and genealogy as a tactic, which, according to him, establishes the completeness of the project.

The Dream of Genocide. Foucault’s Introduction of Biopolitics

San o genocidu. Foucaultovo uvođenje biopolitike

Author(s): Branko Romčević / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/171/2023

Keywords: Michel Foucault; biopolitics; biopower; resistance; power;

In this paper, we discuss Foucault’s formulation of the notions of biopolitics and biopower against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public reaction to it. For this purpose, we first identify his body of work relevant to the issue of biopolitics, since this issue – unlike the subject areas represented in Foucault’s earlier work – has not been the subject of a separate study. We narrow the focus to the period between 1974 and 1976, when he wrote five crucial texts for understanding biopolitics. The final one – “Right of Death and Power over Life”, the only one with biopolitics as the sole subject – provides what could be understood as Foucault’s definitive interpretation of the genesis and position of biopolitics in modern technologies of power. In the second part of the paper, we analyze the conceptual structure of biopower and the position of discipline and biopolitics within this structure. We then turn to Foucault’s final determination of biopolitics as thanatopolitics to raise the question of whether this whole perspective is dystopian. We find that it is not, because this perspective depends on Foucault’s understanding of power relations, according to which resistance is primary and power is derived. Finally, we argue that his conceptualization of biopolitics cannot be used to justify any of today’s antibiopolitical tendencies.

An Intervention to Agent-Structure Relationship Through DeGrounding: The Example of Foucault’s Analysis of Power

Fail-Yapı İlişkisine Yersizleştirme Üzerinden Bir Müdahale: Foucault’nun İktidar Analizi Örneği

Author(s): Berkay Kabalay / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 02/2024

Keywords: Agent; Structure; Action; Power; Michel Foucault;

This study criticizes the explanation of the relationship between agent and structure by linking it to the metaphor of ground, which refers to an ontological hierarchy. For at this ontological plane, what has a presence on the ground makes the other thing an epiphenomenon, and constitutes and transforms it absolute. To the extent that struggles and possibilities are ignored, the abstraction has political consequences. The critique of the ontological plane, that is de-grounding, to eliminate these political consequences relies on an ensemble of action. This critique is not simply the replacement of the grounded agent or structure for the action, but the genealogical formation of the ontological plane. The de-grounding is best manifested in Michel Foucault's analysis of power. By defining power as an action and not as a privilege, Foucault offers a clear definition of the genealogical ontological plane and the ensemble of action that constitute things at this plane. From the same ontological perspective, this study explains the agent-structure relation through the concepts of action and contingency. Through this explanation, the agent-structure interaction constitutes an alternative that enables political possibilities and does not limit politics to certain spaces.

THE CONCEPT OF SPACE IN LITERATURE. BETWEEN FOUCAULT’S HETEROTOPIAS AND PRESENT GEOCRITICAL APPROACHES

SPAȚIUL ÎN LITERATURĂ. ÎNTRE HETEROTOPIILE LUI FOUCAULT ȘI ABORDĂRILE GEOCRITICE ACTUALE

Author(s): Delia Badea / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2024

Keywords: space; heterotopias; geocriticism; Michel Foucault; Bertrand Westphal; methodology

Kantian philosophy postulates time and space as two fundamental categories of human experience. Nevertheless, cultural tradition has always favoured the historicity of humanity, imposing, at least for the Western thinking, an essentially temporal discourse. The narrative theories anterior to the spatial turn phenomenon seem to reiterate, at micro scale, the temporal philosophical thinking pattern as well. They have brought about an approach of the literary text as a sequence of events, implicitly establishing a temporal dominance on narration, disregarding the spatial factor. Under these circumstances, our approach aims to underline the main instants which, starting with end of the previous century, influenced the new cultural paradigm established together with the spatial turn phenomenon.We aim to develop a methodological analysis study as well, trying to identify the intersection of the classical approaches of space and the theories developed by the new spatial literary studies. An interdisciplinary approach will highlight concepts taken from literary geography, geocriticism and spatial narrative.Such an approach will lead to identifying possible markers which served as a base for an essential deconstruction of the traditional manner of seeing the space.To summarize, starting from Bertrand Westphal’s epistemology and moving to present methodological directions brought byRobert Tally Jr., Franco Moretti and Bernard Debarbieux, the geocritical approach we present has the space in the center of literature understanding.

Michel Foucault’s Concept of Critique

Концепцията за критика на Мишел Фуко

Author(s): Miroslava Hristoskova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 6/2024

Keywords: critique; ethos; Enlightenment; ontology; the present

This paper examines Foucault’s concept of critique and points out the importance of critical attitude in his ontology of the present. Kant’s question of the Enlightenment is put in a new perspective: philosophical thought is oriented at defining the present and actual field of experience. Philosophy becomes an activity of diagnosing the present (ontology of actuality and ourselves) opposed to a search of universal structures of truth (analytics of truth). Foucault observes a relationship between Enlightenment and critique: a certain kind of attitude, a philosophical ethos that consists of critique of our historical existence. This critical attitude is understood as a philosophical ethos (critical work of thought over itself) and as a practice of freedom (a perspective of transforming oneself and creating new modalities of subjectivity).

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE POWER THEORIES OF FOUCAULT, BOURDIEU, AND HABERMAS IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE POWER THEORIES OF FOUCAULT, BOURDIEU, AND HABERMAS IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

Author(s): Victor J. Pitsoe / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Power; Discourse; Social Stratification; Ethics; Habitus; Symbolic Power; Liberty; Self-Determination;

The article adopts three theoretical frameworks to explore the intricacies of "power." His discourse ethics contradict Habermas's belief in oppressive power. Free speech and ethical debates disregard power, contrary to Foucault's claim that the two are intrinsically related. Contrary to Foucault's insistence that power and history were inseparably linked, Habermas argued that one might seek truth apart from the other. There are two perspectives on power in Bourdieu's dialectical materialism: the subjective and the objective. Work is controversial, relevant, and dynamic, in his view. Habitus symbolism may shed light on the ways in which players unwittingly adhere to social norms. On one point, Bourdieu differs with Habermas: power is something that happens in society and in people's lives. Bourdieu uses Marx's theory of power to promote equality and comprehend social stratification. Ideologies of dominating power impact academics' problem-solving and report-writing. In contrast to Habermas's power-seeking consciousness, Bourdieu's practice-based, sophisticated perspective goes beyond structures and individuals. The disciplinary power of Foucault exposes patterns of covert speech, in opposition to Habermas's aim for free speech principles. The term "power" covers a wide range of events with various features; therefore, picking the correct theory to examine is vital.

Friedrich Nietzsche, the "Master of Suspicion". On the Nietzsche Readings of Michel Foucault and Paul Ricoeur

Friedrich Nietzsche, "Der Meister des Verdachts". Über die Nietzsche-Lektüren von Michel Foucault und Paul Ricœur

Author(s): Yvanka Raynova / Language(s): German / Issue: 1/2024

Keywords: Friedrich Nietzsche; Michel Foucault; Paul Ricœur; cogito; illusions; masks

The term "masters of suspicion", which summarizes the critical views of Marx, Nie-tzsche, and Freud, has found its way into contemporary philosophy through Paul Ricœur and is considered his kind of "patent". It is less well known that Michel Foucault also wrote a text on the subject of "Nietzsche, Freud, Marx" in which he speaks of suspicion. The author therefore asks herself where this thematic agreement comes from and undertakes a comparison of Foucault's and Ricœur's readings of Nietzsche. In doing so, she puts forward two theses that she attempts to prove. The first thesis is that Ricœur actually begins where Foucault left off and leads us in a direction that is opposite to that of Foucault. The second thesis is that Foucault stays closer to Nietzsche by trying to advance his "suspicion" instead of overcoming it, as Ricœur does.

Subjectivity and Knowledge: Foucault’s Epistemic Discourse and Its Implications for Arab Critical Thought

Subjectivity and Knowledge: Foucault’s Epistemic Discourse and Its Implications for Arab Critical Thought

Author(s): Abdelaziz Menci,Youcef Attia / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2025

Keywords: subjective experience; epistemic discourse; power; author; ideology;

This study aims to analyze the reasons why the issues of thought raised by Michel Foucault continue to garner attention more than forty years after his death, with a focus on his influence on both Arab and global thought. The study adopts a critical analytical approach to Foucault's works, comparing the different intellectual trends in the Arab world regarding his ideas, ranging from adoption and assimilation to the complete rejection of foreign influence. The study also examines how Foucault addressed the relationship between literature and philosophy, relying on various critical references from both within and outside France. The results reveal that Foucauldian thought in the Arab world has been significantly influenced by translations and Western philosophical criticism, with some aspects of his literary and critical views being overlooked, reflecting a partial understanding of his thought. The study further shows that Foucault was not just a philosopher, but a thinker deeply influenced by his personal experiences in shaping his knowledge.