Peter reports this letter
>
> What has French
>philosophy to say about unemployment, poverty, child prostitution, drugs
>the state of our justice system or our disappearing democracy? Rien. Its
>rigid jargon and cumbersome neologisms preclude knowing anything either
>"intimately" or "completely". The only way French theory connects with late
>20th century life is in the philosophical support it gives to market
>economics."
'French philosophy' has quite a lot to say about all these issues. It
depends on who one reads. For example some of the best commentaries on the
justice system, democracy and related problems can be found in Tocqueville,
Francois Furet, Cornelius Castoriadis, Regis Debray, Claude Lefort, Marcel
Gauchet, Pierre Rosanvallon and Alain Touraine. A number of these writers
as well as Foucault also comment on the other issues at some length.
Perhaps the writer of the letter has only read secondary sources or the
more arcane efforts of Jacques Derrida and Jacques Lacan?
Clare
***********************************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email:c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
web page: http://www.qut.edu.au/edu/cpol/foucault/
***********************************************************
>
> What has French
>philosophy to say about unemployment, poverty, child prostitution, drugs
>the state of our justice system or our disappearing democracy? Rien. Its
>rigid jargon and cumbersome neologisms preclude knowing anything either
>"intimately" or "completely". The only way French theory connects with late
>20th century life is in the philosophical support it gives to market
>economics."
'French philosophy' has quite a lot to say about all these issues. It
depends on who one reads. For example some of the best commentaries on the
justice system, democracy and related problems can be found in Tocqueville,
Francois Furet, Cornelius Castoriadis, Regis Debray, Claude Lefort, Marcel
Gauchet, Pierre Rosanvallon and Alain Touraine. A number of these writers
as well as Foucault also comment on the other issues at some length.
Perhaps the writer of the letter has only read secondary sources or the
more arcane efforts of Jacques Derrida and Jacques Lacan?
Clare
***********************************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email:c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
web page: http://www.qut.edu.au/edu/cpol/foucault/
***********************************************************