MAPPING THE PRESENT

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MAPPING THE PRESENT: Heidegger, Foucault and the Project of a Spatial =
History by Stuart Elden, Ph. D

Pages: 240pp=20
Paperback ISBN: 0826458475=20
Hardback ISBN: 0826458467=20
Publisher: The Athlone Press=20
Publication date: 10-01-2001=20
=20
The primary virtue of this book is its clarity and directness =
that does not in any way degenerate into meaningless generalizations, =
something very rare in scholarly studies of philosophy. This is =
especially so with Heidegger and Foucault. In his study of Foucault's =
"Project of a Spatial History", Stuart Elden actually opens up much new =
ground in essential and fundamental subjects which are given only lip =
service in other studies in a rush to get to what is of already =
acknowledged popular interest. Hopefully this study will open real =
understanding for both of these philosophers because what other scholars =
have bypassed here is exceedingly important to understanding them as =
they, in fact, really thought. "Place" in Heidegger and "spatial =
History" in Foucault are shown to be primary concepts that should have =
been approached first instead of neglected, that render any =
understanding of Heidegger thoroughly undermined and insecure. It =
completely distorted Foucault into seeming to be a mere pop-philosopher =
instead of the major thinker Elden shows him to truly be. In fact, not =
only does Doctor Elden demonstrate the enormous impact of Heidegger on =
Foucault's thinking, especially all of Heidegger's writings on Nietzsche =
starting in time before the NIETZSCHE lectures, but, for people =
interested mainly in Heidegger, greatly enlarges the scope of =
understanding the core thinking of the earlier philosopher. Although it =
is obvious that Nietzsche was prominent in Foucault's thinking, Doctor =
Elden clearly demonstrates that it is only through Heideggerian lenses =
that Foucault read Nietzsche. In doing this, he also demonstrates, =
though he does not mention it, the enormous shock that Heidegger's =
NIETZSCHE lectures gave to Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida.

Foucault read Heidegger in the original German so his perception =
of Heidegger was not distorted by translation. However, of the three =
great French thinkers, he places the NIETZSCHE lectures in their proper =
spotlight as one of Heidegger's most important texts. Doctor Elden's =
approach in detail also is not over already covered ground filled with =
other people's assumptions but deals with each point in an original way. =
For instance, instead of merely berating Heidegger's Nazism for the =
ten-thousandth time, he goes into an in-depth understanding of what this =
really meant, especially interesting relating to the philosophy of law. =
Though he does not mention Mikhail Bakhtin by name, what he says about =
Foucault and the carnival spirit of public execution should be of great =
interest to Bakhtin scholars. He details the great damage of the poorly =
abridged English translation of Histoire de la Folie which did not at =
all, as Madness and Civilization, make clear the major thesis of =
Foucault's book and stands in desperate need of a new version. He brings =
up the question of why Discipline and Punish is "framed as a history of =
the present." He links "the distinction between connaissance and savoir" =
to his clarified notion of Heidegger's "historical ontology." He =
presents "the theoretical base" of Foucault's relation of technology and =
the dispositif "that encompasses technologies of power that produce a =
docile body, a knowable 'soul', and a subjectification of the =
individual" versus "the supplice of the eighteenth century" with the =
all-important meaning of the "place" of personal, sensible body "with =
the ritual play of excessive pains, spectacular brandings [marques =
=E9clatantes] in the ritual of supplices" that "is one of a number of =
rituals by which power is manifested." As Doctor Elden says, quoting =
Foucault,

The ceremonies of supplice are visual displays of power, the marks of =
the sovereign are left in prominent places: "Pillories, gallows and =
scaffolds were erected in public squares or by the roadside; sometimes =
the corpses of the executed persons [des supplici=E9s] were displayed =
for several days near the scenes of their crimes. Not only must people =
know [sachent], they must see [voient] with their own eyes."

To conclude, Doctor Elden's main emphasis is to show "genealogy is =
historical ontology." He say, "Most importantly, the aim of this book is =
to provide a theoretical approach towards a spatial history . . . This =
is indeed what Foucault does, and that his understanding of space, and =
his use of specialized history, is indebted not so much to his reading =
of Nietzsche but, most importantly, to his reading of Heidegger." It is =
absolutely necessary that anyone seriously interested in Heidegger or =
Foucault must read this book. Not only is the text fascinating, exciting =
to read for a real philosopher, and a veritable mine of information, =
but even the footnotes become explorations into new territories worth =
reading all on their own. There is an extensive and well laid out =
bibliography, a value in itself, and a very helpful section on =
abbreviations. His quotations give you the ability to check either the =
original language or the translation, if available. There is also a very =
helpful index. Check the publishers' site for more favorable reviews!
=20
http://www.continuumbooks.com/prev.cgi?bk_id=3D2447

=20

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Spatial
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MAPPING =
THE
PRESENT: Heidegger, Foucault and the Project of a Spatial History =
by
Stuart Elden, Ph. D<o:p></o:p>

<![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p>

 
Pages: 240pp 
Paperback ISBN: 0826458475 
Hardback ISBN: 0826458467 
Publisher: The Athlone Press 
Publication date: 10-01-2001 
=A0

=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 The primary virtue =
of this book is its
clarity and directness that does not in any way degenerate into =
meaningless
generalizations, something very rare in scholarly studies of philosophy. =
This
is especially so with Heidegger and Foucault. In his study of =
Foucault=92s =93Project
of a Spatial History=94, Stuart Elden actually opens up much new ground =
in
essential and fundamental subjects which are given only lip service in =
other
studies in a rush to get to what is of already acknowledged popular =
interest.
Hopefully this study will open real understanding for both of these
philosophers because what other scholars have bypassed here is =
exceedingly
important to understanding them as they, in fact, really thought. =
=93Place=94 in
Heidegger and =93spatial History=94 in Foucault are shown to be primary =
concepts
that should have been approached first instead of neglected, that render =
any
understanding of Heidegger thoroughly undermined and insecure. It =
completely
distorted Foucault into seeming to be a mere pop-philosopher instead of =
the
major thinker Elden shows him to truly be. In fact, not only does Doctor =
Elden
demonstrate the enormous impact of Heidegger on Foucault=92s thinking, =
especially
all of Heidegger=92s writings on Nietzsche starting in time before the =
NIETZSCHE =
lectures,
but, for people interested mainly in Heidegger, greatly enlarges the =
scope of
understanding the core thinking of the earlier philosopher. Although it =
is
obvious that Nietzsche was prominent in Foucault=92s thinking, Doctor =
Elden
clearly demonstrates that it is only through Heideggerian lenses that =
Foucault
read Nietzsche. In doing this, he also demonstrates, though he does not =
mention
it, the enormous shock that Heidegger=92s NIETZSCHE lectures gave to Emmanuel Levinas and =
Jacques
Derrida.<o:p></o:p>

<![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p>

=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Foucault read =
Heidegger in the
original German so his perception of Heidegger was not distorted by
translation. However, of the three great French thinkers, he places the =
NIETZSCHE =
lectures in
their proper spotlight as one of Heidegger=92s most important texts. =
Doctor
Elden=92s approach in detail also is not over already covered ground =
filled with
other people=92s assumptions but deals with each point in an original =
way. For
instance, instead of merely berating Heidegger=92s Nazism for the =
ten-thousandth
time, he goes into an in-depth understanding of what this really meant,
especially interesting relating to the philosophy of law. Though he does =
not
mention Mikhail Bakhtin by name, what he says about Foucault and the =
carnival
spirit of public execution should be of great interest to Bakhtin =
scholars. He
details the great damage of the poorly abridged English translation of =
Histoire de la =
Folie
which did not at all, as Madness
and Civilization, make clear the major thesis of =
Foucault=92s book
and stands in desperate need of a new version. He brings up the question =
of why
Discipline and =
Punish
is =93framed as a history of the present.=94 He links =93the distinction =
between connaissance =
and savoir=94 to =
his
clarified notion of Heidegger=92s =93historical ontology.=94 He presents =
=93the
theoretical base=94 of Foucault=92s relation of technology and the dispositif =93that encompasses
technologies of power that produce a docile body, a knowable =91soul=92, =
and a
subjectification of the individual=94 versus =93the supplice of the eighteenth =
century=94 with
the all-important meaning of the =93place=94 of personal, sensible body =
=93with the
ritual play of excessive pains, spectacular brandings [marques =
=E9clatantes]
in the ritual of supplices=94
that =93is one of a number of rituals by which power is
manifested.=94 As Doctor Elden says, quoting Foucault,

<![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p>

The ceremonies =
of supplice are =
visual
displays of power, the marks of the sovereign are left in prominent =
places:
=93Pillories, gallows and scaffolds were erected in public squares or by =
the
roadside; sometimes the corpses of the executed persons [des =
supplici=E9s] were
displayed for several days near the scenes of their crimes. Not only =
must
people know [sachent],
they must see [voient]
with their own eyes.=94

<![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p>

<div style=3D'border:none;border-left:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in =
0in 3.0pt'>

To conclude, Doctor Elden=92s main emphasis =
is to show
=93genealogy is historical ontology.=94 He say, =93Most importantly, the =
aim of this
book is to provide a theoretical approach towards a spatial history . . =
. This
is indeed what Foucault does, and that his understanding of space, and =
his use
of specialized history, is indebted not so much to his reading of =
Nietzsche
but, most importantly, to his reading of Heidegger.=94 It is absolutely =
necessary
that anyone seriously interested in Heidegger or Foucault must read this =
book.
Not only is the text fascinating, exciting to read for a real =
philosopher,=A0 and a veritable mine of =
information, but
even the footnotes become explorations into new territories worth =
reading all
on their own. There is an extensive and well laid out bibliography, a =
value in
itself, and a very helpful section on abbreviations. His quotations give =
you
the ability to check either the original language or the translation, if
available. There is also a very helpful index. Check the publishers' site for more =
favorable
reviews!<o:p></o:p>

 <o:p></o:p></fo=
nt>

<a
href=3D"http://www.continuumbooks.com/prev.cgi?bk_id=3D2447";>http://www.c=
ontinuumbooks.com/prev.cgi?bk_id=3D2447</a><o:p></o:p>

<![if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p>

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nt>

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