Foucault, the end of a decade (original) (raw)
Related papers
On the "Christian Turn" in Foucault’s Thought: Apropos of _Foucault, les Pères, le sexe_
Maynooth Philosophical Papers, 2022
The recently published volume _Foucault, les Pères, le sexe_ brings together sixteen papers delivered at a conference held in 2018 to mark the launch of _Les aveux de la chair_, the posthumous fourth volume of the _History of Sexuality_. This review essay focuses on the contribution of the Foucault Archives to research on the philosopher's thought; on critical reactions by patrologists to Foucault's venture into study of the Church Fathers; and, finally, on the significance of the "Christian turn" in the late Foucault's lectures and writings.
Continental Thought and Theory (CT&T), 2022
Foucault was first and foremost a historian and insists that the past enables the present to exist, to think about and to occur. It is at this conjuncture that Foucault presents a demand on all who follow in his wake: we have to know history, engage in and with history, critique, wrestle with and rethink history in order to make sense of the present. One cannot follow or properly draw upon Foucault if history is bypassed or dismissed – which is perhaps why Foucault is often so mis-used today? This issue reads Foucault (who, if alive today would be 96) from the present and asks what do contemporary readings of Foucault offer to thinking via those political, subjective, and social issues relevant today? Reading Foucault from within the 21st century is not only to engage with Foucault from a distance (that is, the aftermath of the rise and fall of Foucault in the academy) but also to remind ourselves of how the 21st century is itself as series of power discourses continuing into the new century. The contributions in this issue all put to work not only Foucault’s methods of politics, genealogy and historicity as specific readings of social and subjective phenomenon but also read him across and alongside other authors, some recent such as Dean and Zamora’s controversial reading of Foucault and neoliberalism, and other provocative intellectual interlocutors, such as Guartarri, Jameson, Baudrillard, Allouch, Zupancic, Canguilhem, Lacan, Kant, Freud and Illouz. What is also put to work is the interdisciplinary nexus of Foucault’s thinking relating to philosophy, biology, history, sex, autoethnography, technology, Christianity, and politics. The authors all take up Foucault’s work not as a legacy of the past, but rather as a modality of contemporaneity: How can his praxis be thought today via his reconsideration of parrhesia? What might be Foucault’s reception to Greek and Roman philosophies? What are the implications and effects of a contemporary Foucauldian praxis regarding the crises and conundrums we currently encounter? In the face of the current trend towards universalism how can Foucault provide a challenge or riff to such theoretical and rhetorical orientations, especially concerning the ‘political subjectivity’ as one which unapologetically takes up pleasure?
Foucault Studies, 2016
In presenting twelve contemporary treatises on Foucault from both European and American philosophers, this volume edited by James D. Faubion augurs well as a landmark work. In the words of Faubion, it does not claim to be "a topical compendium," nor "a mere sampler," acknowledging "its limits," while extolling its "enduring focus"an elaboration on Foucault's project-the "historical ontology of ourselves" (1). The editor proudly presents this as the distinguishing feature of this volume, rendering it unique from the innumerable collections on Foucault being published at the moment. And indeed, the publication does build on this "historical ontology" in a different manner and by various means, touching on various concepts of Foucault, without, obviously, exhausting his list. In this review, I set out to present the main arguments of each chapter, with my writing serving as an appetizer, taking potential readers through all the chapters, exposing the main concepts these Foucauldian philosophers chose to share with us. The Use of Foucault by Faubion, which serves as an introduction, does exactly what it purports to do-it eases the reader into this compendium of contemporary Foucauldian studies. Although clearly not intended for someone unfamiliar with Foucauldian theories, the editor carefully leads us through the winding paths followed by Foucault's works, moving on to "receptions and applications" (7) of these same works, which the great philosopher himself defined as "tracks of research, ideas, schemas, stipples, instruments: do with them what you want." 1 And this is what the twelve contributors do, introduced briefly to us by Faubion, before we come to read their individual works. This introduction ends with a postscript-giving suggestions for further reading, for those who would like to follow up on the concepts addressed in this book-offering the potential for an ongoing dialogue and debate. This volume is divided in two sections, with the first six chapters constituting Part 1: Object Lessons, dealing with Foucauldian theories, while Part 2: Cases in Point, relate to applications in diverse fields. According to Faubion, the essays constituting Part 1 address the question of "the use-and abuse-of Foucault" in general terms (15), while Part 2 1 Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, as cited in book under review, 7.
The Reception and Evolution of Foucault's Political Philosophy
KRITIKE, 2018
With the benefit of the complete publication of Foucault's lectures at the Collège de France, the reception of his work by political philosophers in the English-speaking world during the late 1970s and early 1980s appears extremely confused. This reception was based on the English translations of work published in the mid-1970s, chiefly Discipline and Punish and The History of Sexuality Volume One, along with collections of interviews from the same period. The misunderstandings of those works were compounded by ignorance of developments in his approach to politics and his understanding of power worked out in lectures from 1976 to 1979. The aim of this paper is not simply to defend Foucault against critics from that period, but to show how a more complete understanding of the evolution of his political thought might enable a better understanding of the similarities and differences between his genealogical approach to power and government and the concerns of normative political philosophy.
Review of: Philippe Artières, Jean ‐ François Bert, Un succès philosophique: L’Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique de Michel Foucault (Caen: Presses Universitaires de Caen, IMEC, 2011); and Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique de Michel Foucault. Regards critiques 1961 ‐ 2011 , Textes choisis et présentés par Philippe Artières, Jean ‐ François Bert, Philippe Cheval ‐ lier, Frédéric Gros, Luca Paltrinieri, Judith Revel, Mathieu Potte ‐ Bonneville et Martin Saar, Caen: Presses Universitaires de Caen, IMEC, 2011).