Bryan C:
> This was exactly the question I was asking. Do animals have power
> relations? The answer seems to be yes. My point is that we lack
> scientific or other evidence that animals have knowlage of the self.
This talk of "having" power relations is rather perplexing. I think you do
raise an interesting point regarding the ontogenesis of subjectivity, and
perhaps someone may be able to provide you a satisfactory answer to this
question.
Foucault argues that his theory of power affirms human agency because (and
I'm not going to word this well because I got little sleep last night) power
makes people act in ways they otherwise wouldn't have (which implies some
degree of human volition). It's important to remember that power ALWAYS
produces resistance. The question isn't whether to resist, but HOW.
Similarly, Foucault's critique of subjectivity seems to be more pertinent to
the question of HOW we constitute ourselves as subjects, rather than WHETHER
we constitute ourselves as subjects.
~Nate
P.S. Foucault really helps when you're bullshitting English essays, eh?
> This was exactly the question I was asking. Do animals have power
> relations? The answer seems to be yes. My point is that we lack
> scientific or other evidence that animals have knowlage of the self.
This talk of "having" power relations is rather perplexing. I think you do
raise an interesting point regarding the ontogenesis of subjectivity, and
perhaps someone may be able to provide you a satisfactory answer to this
question.
Foucault argues that his theory of power affirms human agency because (and
I'm not going to word this well because I got little sleep last night) power
makes people act in ways they otherwise wouldn't have (which implies some
degree of human volition). It's important to remember that power ALWAYS
produces resistance. The question isn't whether to resist, but HOW.
Similarly, Foucault's critique of subjectivity seems to be more pertinent to
the question of HOW we constitute ourselves as subjects, rather than WHETHER
we constitute ourselves as subjects.
~Nate
P.S. Foucault really helps when you're bullshitting English essays, eh?