Thanks for bringing this conflict up again for me. I set it aside a
couple of years ago after initially being fascinated with two powerful
readings....well, trying to exclude each other. Both Derrida and
Foucault have pluasible readings of this key passage from Descartes'
Meditations. I tend to side with Foucault's forceful rejoinder to
Derrida (F's "My Body, This Paper, This Fire"). I think that this debate is
interesting because more is at stake than a reading of a random passage.
What's at stake? The definition of modern philosophy; the relationship
between intellectual texts and cultural practices; and a choice between two
divergent methods of contemporary analysis (as shorthand: genealogy vs
deconstruction); and not the least, the current relationship between a
legitimate thinker (viz, Derrida and Foucault both) and illigitimate
thinkers (viz, the mad).
In fact, if anyone is interested and feels competant, I'd like to
collaborate on editing a book which gathers together key documents of this
debate for the first time. So far they're scattered across various
journals and prefaces, etc. This may be important enough to warrant
publishing in a single reference.
What key elements would compose such a volume? So far, I would include:
*Relevant passages from F's _Folie et deraison: Histoire de la folie a
l'age classique_.
*Derrida's critique, trans as "Cogito and the History of Madness"
*F's rejoinder, trans as "My Body, This Paper, This Fire"
*Descartes' meditation to which this refers.
*A passage from David Macey's biography of Foucault about the personal
background and the events leading up to this debate.
*F's "La folie, l'absence d'oeuvre" (Madness and the Absence of the Work)
*perhaps Derrida's "La parole souflee" (which speaks to the above) and
F's "Thought from the Outside" (which evades the link between Reason and
History Derrida seems to insist upon)
*Interview with F, "Madness & Sorcery"
Also, selected essays about this conflict:
*Shoshana Felman's "Madness and Philosophy--or, Literature's Reason"
* John Frow's "Foucault & Derrida"
*Ann Wordsworth's "Derrida & Foucault: writing the history of historicity"
*Hayden White's chapter on this from _Tropics of Discourse_
*Edward Said's "The Problem of Textuality: Two Exemplary Positions"
*Christopher Norris' overview of this in his book _Derrida_
*Bernard Flynn's "Derrida and Foucault: Madness & Writing"
*Dalia Judavitz's "Derrida & Descartes--Economizing Thought"
*passages from Roy Bayne on this
*passage from Robert Young's _White Mythologies: Writing History and the
West_
*etc.
Does anyone know of an item that should be included? Anyone
interested in approaching a publisher? Anyone want to translate passages
from F's original book on the history of madness, especially those
passages which have not been included in _Madness and Civilization_?
--Erick Heroux
heroux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx