i appreciate the info on Rorty, but my sense is that Rorty misreads both
Dewey and Foucault. He misreads Foucault by not acknowledging that
Foucault's 'aesthetic' is not purely subjective and suited only for
private existence. Rorty also seems to not take seriously enough Dewey's
focus on the practices of experimental science and the intrinsic values
that guide it in the formation of an ethical practice suited for
democracy?human emancipation. Both seem to hint that ethics is a making
of the world over in the image of human purposes. Dewey is more positive
in his assessment of the possibility for emancipation?and his attempt to
derive intrinsic values from experimental science is his attempt to
provide certainty for values in a world that has been disenchanted
(Being is gone). Foucault is always suspicious of attempts to derive any
set of norms, normalization, from any practice?maybe because this stops
inquiry and critique.
"What is Enlightenment?" also hints at some similarities between Dewey
and Foucault tot the extent that both hint at finding something
intrinsic to the practice of enlightenment?in Foucault's case the
process of continual inquiry and Dewey in the process of experimental
science?to guide an ethical position. both seek to get away from moral
codes and toward an ethical practice.
Rorty's misreading of Foucault is highlighted by Foucault's His of sex 2
and 3 where the ethical (Greek and roman) are both social practices. the
greek use of pleasure is never detached from social status (art of
government, justice, superiority) and the roman art of the self is also
never detached from the social value of reciprocity. It is wrong to
imagine that Foucault's aesthetic is purely subjective. it is also wrong
to read Dewey as seeking no firmer ground for values that merely stating
that 'not doing harm' is a good in itself as Rorty claims?this gets good
ole Rich too close to some scheme of Being that only those who wear
pastel polo shirts are able to grasp. (Perhaps this is too harsh)
Any comments?
"Every time I catch a good song wouldn't you know?the station starts to
fade, but every step I've ever taken has brought me in time to hear it
slip away." Joe Henry
Dewey and Foucault. He misreads Foucault by not acknowledging that
Foucault's 'aesthetic' is not purely subjective and suited only for
private existence. Rorty also seems to not take seriously enough Dewey's
focus on the practices of experimental science and the intrinsic values
that guide it in the formation of an ethical practice suited for
democracy?human emancipation. Both seem to hint that ethics is a making
of the world over in the image of human purposes. Dewey is more positive
in his assessment of the possibility for emancipation?and his attempt to
derive intrinsic values from experimental science is his attempt to
provide certainty for values in a world that has been disenchanted
(Being is gone). Foucault is always suspicious of attempts to derive any
set of norms, normalization, from any practice?maybe because this stops
inquiry and critique.
"What is Enlightenment?" also hints at some similarities between Dewey
and Foucault tot the extent that both hint at finding something
intrinsic to the practice of enlightenment?in Foucault's case the
process of continual inquiry and Dewey in the process of experimental
science?to guide an ethical position. both seek to get away from moral
codes and toward an ethical practice.
Rorty's misreading of Foucault is highlighted by Foucault's His of sex 2
and 3 where the ethical (Greek and roman) are both social practices. the
greek use of pleasure is never detached from social status (art of
government, justice, superiority) and the roman art of the self is also
never detached from the social value of reciprocity. It is wrong to
imagine that Foucault's aesthetic is purely subjective. it is also wrong
to read Dewey as seeking no firmer ground for values that merely stating
that 'not doing harm' is a good in itself as Rorty claims?this gets good
ole Rich too close to some scheme of Being that only those who wear
pastel polo shirts are able to grasp. (Perhaps this is too harsh)
Any comments?
"Every time I catch a good song wouldn't you know?the station starts to
fade, but every step I've ever taken has brought me in time to hear it
slip away." Joe Henry