On Tue, 10 Mar 1998, Ian Robert Douglas wrote:
> >Just a question: what Ian said about D and G remind me a bit of the
> 'false
>
> >consciousness' idea.
>
>
> it is strange that 'false consciousness' is what they're trying to
> debunk
>
> by getting us to think about the false <italic>conscience</italic> of
> false consciousness!
>
> The masses are not manipulated by power; they <italic>want</italic> to
> be dominated.
>
> Its not so much that they're falsely conscious as their conscience
> doesn't
>
> allow them to admit their own desire. They wanted fascism, but cannot
>
> bear to admit it ..
>
> (not, of course, that D&G care much for 'accusation')
>
Yes, these days *we wish* people were overrun by false consciousness. If
they were, that would imply there was a true consciousness out there
somewhere. The ultra-skeletal historical outline of oppositional thought
in the West can be thought of as follows:
1. Enlightenment: reason will free us from myth and tradition.
2. Frankfurt School (Marx too): we are misled by false
consciousness/ideology
3. Postmodernism: no more belief in pretty stories about reason, nor in
pretty stories dressed up in pessimistic accounts concerning the conflict
between true and false consciousness, as if there were something (even in
nuce, or as potentia) we could oppose the culture industry with.
Intellectual turn to the analytics (or "sociology") of power,
combined with tactical retreat to the local sphere.
--John
> _______________________________________________________
>
> Ian Robert Douglas,
>
> Visiting Lecturer & Fulbright Fellow,
>
> Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute of International Studies,
>
> Brown University, Box 1831,
>
> 130 Hope Street,
>
> Providence, RI 02912
>
>
> tel: 401 863-2420 (direct line)
>
> fax: 401 863-1270
>
>
> "Great is Justice;
>
> Justice is not settled by legislation and laws
>
> it is in the soul .. " - Walt Whitman
>
>
^><<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>><><<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>><><
< John S. Ransom, Political Science; Denny 107; 245-1716 <
< Prelaw Adviser; Bologna Coordinator >
< Office Hours: Monday 11am-Noon, Tuesday, 10-11am, >
< Thursday, 2-3pm >
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >Just a question: what Ian said about D and G remind me a bit of the
> 'false
>
> >consciousness' idea.
>
>
> it is strange that 'false consciousness' is what they're trying to
> debunk
>
> by getting us to think about the false <italic>conscience</italic> of
> false consciousness!
>
> The masses are not manipulated by power; they <italic>want</italic> to
> be dominated.
>
> Its not so much that they're falsely conscious as their conscience
> doesn't
>
> allow them to admit their own desire. They wanted fascism, but cannot
>
> bear to admit it ..
>
> (not, of course, that D&G care much for 'accusation')
>
Yes, these days *we wish* people were overrun by false consciousness. If
they were, that would imply there was a true consciousness out there
somewhere. The ultra-skeletal historical outline of oppositional thought
in the West can be thought of as follows:
1. Enlightenment: reason will free us from myth and tradition.
2. Frankfurt School (Marx too): we are misled by false
consciousness/ideology
3. Postmodernism: no more belief in pretty stories about reason, nor in
pretty stories dressed up in pessimistic accounts concerning the conflict
between true and false consciousness, as if there were something (even in
nuce, or as potentia) we could oppose the culture industry with.
Intellectual turn to the analytics (or "sociology") of power,
combined with tactical retreat to the local sphere.
--John
> _______________________________________________________
>
> Ian Robert Douglas,
>
> Visiting Lecturer & Fulbright Fellow,
>
> Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute of International Studies,
>
> Brown University, Box 1831,
>
> 130 Hope Street,
>
> Providence, RI 02912
>
>
> tel: 401 863-2420 (direct line)
>
> fax: 401 863-1270
>
>
> "Great is Justice;
>
> Justice is not settled by legislation and laws
>
> it is in the soul .. " - Walt Whitman
>
>
^><<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>><><<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>><><
< John S. Ransom, Political Science; Denny 107; 245-1716 <
< Prelaw Adviser; Bologna Coordinator >
< Office Hours: Monday 11am-Noon, Tuesday, 10-11am, >
< Thursday, 2-3pm >
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^