hi all,
i haven't had time to sift through the deluge of mail on the
postmodernity/rationality issues, but i want to add one item for
consideration. speaking as a sociologist rather than a philosopher, i think
we may have missed one important point in these discussions. it seems to me
that, for at least the early foucault, it is not so much what rationality is
but rather how rationality is used. in MADNESS AND CIVILIZATION foucault
seems quite clear that what is considered rationality/sanity/etc is at least
in large part dependent upon what it is not. what it is not is the
rationality (reason?) exhibited by deviants.
rationality is used socially to distance the powerful from the
non-powerful. hence, there is no single Rationality, but a variety of
rationalities.
dan
------------------
i haven't had time to sift through the deluge of mail on the
postmodernity/rationality issues, but i want to add one item for
consideration. speaking as a sociologist rather than a philosopher, i think
we may have missed one important point in these discussions. it seems to me
that, for at least the early foucault, it is not so much what rationality is
but rather how rationality is used. in MADNESS AND CIVILIZATION foucault
seems quite clear that what is considered rationality/sanity/etc is at least
in large part dependent upon what it is not. what it is not is the
rationality (reason?) exhibited by deviants.
rationality is used socially to distance the powerful from the
non-powerful. hence, there is no single Rationality, but a variety of
rationalities.
dan
------------------