Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [foucault]

Paul-Michel Foucault is a French philosopher that studied ethics, epistomology, and social constructs.

Michel Foucault is a 20th century philosopher that wrote on ethics, epistomology (knowledge) and anthropology, as seen in history of madness relating to the social constructs of behavior.

56 questions
9
votes
2 answers

Why should we listen to Michel Foucault if he based his arguments on biased historical claims?

I have only recently heard about philosophical ideas of Michel Foucault from a friend of mine. His claims, those concerning madness for example, sound iconoclastic to me. After looking up some relevant facts I found that a significant proportion of…
Zhipu 'Wilson' Zhao
  • 285
  • 1
  • 7
8
votes
2 answers

What does Michel Foucault mean by the "micro-physics" of power?

I was wondering if anyone could help me understand what Michel Foucault means by the "micro-physics" of power in Discipline and punish: What the apparatuses and institu­tions operate is, in a sense, a micro-physics of power, whose field of…
Artist
  • 83
  • 1
  • 1
  • 6
8
votes
1 answer

Does Foucault take a position in "Discipline and Punish"?

I am new to Foucault and was studying his essays on Discipline and Punish, I was however uncertain whether or not he is taking a specific position in this regard. Is the "pan-optical" method of observation his proposal for overcoming crime? Or is…
O.A.
  • 462
  • 2
  • 10
6
votes
1 answer

What is this System of Right that consistently shows up in Foucault's work?

In his January 7, 1976 lecture, Foucault says: The system of right, the domain of law, are permanent agents of these relations of domination... Right should be viewed not in terms of a legitimacy to be established, but in terms of the methods of…
Danny Rodriguez
  • 294
  • 1
  • 6
6
votes
1 answer

What were Michel Foucault's most important ideas?

Back when I was studying at university I met the occasional person who spoke about, and seemed to like, Foucault. For a while I had a passing interest in him, and even bought a reader, but found his work difficult to read (might need to revisit). In…
mcraenich
  • 957
  • 6
  • 18
5
votes
1 answer

Would Foucault advocate democracy?

It seems like democracy is a form of government where there is a balance of power between citizens and the government. Would Foucault be in support of this type of government?
personjerry
  • 219
  • 1
  • 6
5
votes
1 answer

Enlightenment as the beginning of observation, examination and control

By studying Foucault, one would certainly realize that "Enlightenment" played a major role in creating discourses that led to disciplines and that the multiplicity of the latter contributed to more control and thus more power for the…
O.A.
  • 462
  • 2
  • 10
5
votes
2 answers

Is panopticism, Foucault's answer for reducing crime?

I have recently started to study Foucault's Discipline and Punish and was wondering whether or not he is actually proposing panopticism as an efficient way for reducing crime. The reason leading me to believe this proposal is based on the following…
Redemptionist
  • 53
  • 3
4
votes
2 answers

Discipline and Punish: what does Foucault mean by genetic accumulation?

In talking about how discipline creates the individual Foucault says: It is the examination which, by combining hierarchical surveillance and normalizing judgement, assures the great disciplinary functions of distribution and classification,…
Ethan NOPE
  • 330
  • 1
  • 11
4
votes
1 answer

What does Foucault mean by the "non-being of madness"?

I am quoting pages 175 and 176 from Madness and Civilization Chapter VI: Doctors and Patients [Vintage Books Edition 1988 which I believe is the standard edition]. Foucault is writing about the classical period. Its [i.e.madness] double nothingness…
Billy
  • 71
  • 2
3
votes
2 answers

What are the relationships between Foucault's medical gaze, scientific investigation, and Buddhist detachment?

From this note from a clinical psychologist, the Foucault's gaze is described as: ... with this powerful gaze the physician could penetrate illusion and see through to the underlying reality, that the physician had the power to see the hidden…
Ooker
  • 725
  • 1
  • 5
  • 19
3
votes
1 answer

Is there anything on early to mid Foucault and structuralism?

Is there anything on early to mid Foucault and structuralism? I've just started The Archeology of Knowledge, meant to be I think the bookend of his early writings, and he is going to some lengths to make sure the reader believes he's not basing his…
confused
  • 321
  • 1
  • 7
3
votes
1 answer

Define delegated Power (Foucault)

Can you explain what Foucault means with the term delegated power? The text I'm reading (Frank Nonnenmacher, 2009 - Politische Bildung in der Schule. Demokratisches Lernen als Widerspruch im System) is in the context of disciplinary institutions.…
Rico1990
  • 155
  • 3
3
votes
1 answer

What is post sexualism, and is there a non confessional imperative?

Who knows their sexuality, rather than their preferred behaviours? But surely Foucault isn't denying that we like, or prefer, some things or people. So in what way is post-seuality relevant? Specifically: Does it amount to the rejection of an…
user6917
3
votes
1 answer

What is science in the 'gay science'?

First, I haven't read the book; but have come across some excerpts in one of Foucaults essays. It occurs to me that given Nietszches famous antipathy to Christianity, and that Adam/Eve were evicted from the garden after have eaten of the tree of…
Mozibur Ullah
  • 1
  • 14
  • 88
  • 234
1
2 3 4