Hi all
I must say I've always been somewhat bewildered by remarks such as Reg
Lily's (re Miller's "Passion of M.Foucault"). There certainly seems to
be a groundswell of 'PR for Foucault' stuff around lately, as if
Foucault's status as a deity itself(!) was being degraded by Miller, and
others like him.
It seems to me that one of the advantages of the notion of 'specific
intellectual' is that it has potential to avoid the religious fervour
that seems to spring up around prominent intellectual figures. My
impression from his work (eg. the interview "The Masked Philosopher"),
is that Foucault is not into this kind of sacramentalisation.
Miller records a conversation Foucault had towards the end of his death
with an undergraduate, and among his final words to him were, "If I die,
don't cry for me" - so, instead, we should throw money at the foot of
his statue?!
I'm throwing my money in with Doug Henwood.
Jon
P.S. May I add my thanks, John R. - great to read some interesting
stuff.
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