Re: Re: social practices

Brandon writes

>I am gearing up to write a large paper on social practices, and I am
>interested in delving again into Foucault's writings on the subject. My
>question is this: Does anyone know if Foucault ever gives a general,
>abstract account of what a practice is?

The 'Confession of the Flesh' interview in Power/Knowledge is useful as an
overview of how F sees dispositifs functioning, and the way discourses and
practices fit into them. If memory serves, 'Space, Power, Knowledge' is
useful too, as is The Use of Pleasure.

Henry writes

>one approach would be to see what Heideggerian influence
>there is on F's understanding of social practices. Since
>Dreyfus is a primary commentator on both Foucault and Heidegger,
>he may have distinguished them and drawn conclusions of influence.

Sure. I have spoken to Dreyfus about this, and though he does see links he
has not developed it in written work. I suggested that Foucault's use of
dispositif was effectively the same as Heidegger's Ge-stell. Dreyfus sees
them both as a certain style of techniques used for turning people and
things into resources. I would be inclined to push it a little bit further,
as I don't think either thinker's use of the term is solely restricted to
domination. Foucault's use of technology is very Heideggerian - though the
secondary literature on this is pretty minimal.

I have written on this in a little detail - as part of the chapter in my
(nearly completed) thesis on Nietzsche, Heidegger and Foucault. I am happy
to share this with those interested, but it will have to be sent as an
attachment, and I don't want to clog the list. Let me know if you're
interested.

Best wishes

Stuart



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