I am just getting caught up on this thread, and although I have
found the comments interesting it seems to me that there is at least a risk
of over- analysis.
When Foucault offers
"I consider myself more an experimenter than a theorist; I
don't develop deductive systems to apply uniformly in different fields of
research. When I write, I do it above all to change myself and not to
think the same thing as before."
it doesn't seem to me that that is an invitation to investigate the
implications of how this kind of 'experimentation' and or 'change' leads to
resistance and politics in general. Grant you there is probably no harm in
such inquiry, however, what impressed me was the non-rational / non-analytic
flavor of his comment. He states quite clearly that he does not seek
deductive systems or strategies in his work. Instead he probes not really
knowing where he will end up or how those conclusions will affect his
understanding of himself and his world. It seems to me that the desire "not
to think the same thing as before" is motivated by the simple pleasure of
discovery versus an implicit political agenda or social duty.
I'm sure Foucault has a political agenda which implies certain
obligations, but they don't necessarily permeate every dimension of his life.
Hagen Finley
Berkeley, CA
------------------
found the comments interesting it seems to me that there is at least a risk
of over- analysis.
When Foucault offers
"I consider myself more an experimenter than a theorist; I
don't develop deductive systems to apply uniformly in different fields of
research. When I write, I do it above all to change myself and not to
think the same thing as before."
it doesn't seem to me that that is an invitation to investigate the
implications of how this kind of 'experimentation' and or 'change' leads to
resistance and politics in general. Grant you there is probably no harm in
such inquiry, however, what impressed me was the non-rational / non-analytic
flavor of his comment. He states quite clearly that he does not seek
deductive systems or strategies in his work. Instead he probes not really
knowing where he will end up or how those conclusions will affect his
understanding of himself and his world. It seems to me that the desire "not
to think the same thing as before" is motivated by the simple pleasure of
discovery versus an implicit political agenda or social duty.
I'm sure Foucault has a political agenda which implies certain
obligations, but they don't necessarily permeate every dimension of his life.
Hagen Finley
Berkeley, CA
------------------