Randall:
You stated in a previous post that "the _suffocating_ world created by
Foucault" lends itself to the dangers of pessimism. (I assume pessimism
because of your tying the statement in with Schopenhaur and Nietzsche.)
Firstly, I don't agree that Foucault creates a suffocating world. At worst
he does _present_ certain archaeological structures that appear
suffocating; prisons, clinics, madhouses, etc. However, I never
interpreted Foucault as intending to suffocate us with these analyses.
Instead, these sites are approached and used for demonstration because a)
they are primary sites for identifying interstices of power and resistance
- where knowledge is formed and b) analyzing these locations best reveals
the positional autonomy that one can achieve by employing a methodology
that identifies institutional objects for what they are; intelligible
material for disclosing power relations.
I like Ralph Waldo Emerson as well. He is always good for a
thought-provoking quote.
- Phantom Overtone