Thanks. That makes sense. I tried reversing the expression to read "power is
knowledge," and it did strike me as odd. In some cases they do seem to be
the same, while in others, not. For example, if you describe his work as an
"archaelogy of power" (rather than "knowledge), it does seem to be an
accurate description of what he did.
Does anyone "know" what the words for "power" and "knowledge" are in French?
>From: Phil Ryan <philip_ryan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: power/knowledge
>Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 09:34:48 -0400
>
>
>
>John Patrick wrote:
>
> > his basic
> > premise seems quite basic to me. The common expression "knowledge is
>power"
> > seems to summarize his position.There doesn't seem to be anything
> > revolutionary about that.
>
>As that great American philosopher, W.J. Clinton, once put it, it depends
>on
>"what the meaning of 'is' is"
>
>We regularly use the verb in English, without having to think about what
>heavy
>duty it does, how many shades of meaning it holds.
>
>For ex, we say that "2+2 is 4" and, conversely, "4 is 2+2"
>
>But "is" does not always entail this reversibility
>
>For example: Those who make the statement
>
>"Knowledge is power"
>
>are rarely willing to turn it around to say
>
>"Power is knowledge"
>
>One of the things that makes Foucault interesting for many of us is that he
>was
>willing to turn the phrase around. Foucault emphatically rejected the
>claim
>that he had simply identified knowledge with power, so it's better to read
>his
>claims as something like:
>
>knowledge <generates> power [ho-hum]
>
>power generates knowledge [more interesting, I think]
>
>One of the themes running through Discipline and Punish, to take one work,
>is
>how the prison and analogous institutions served to generate knowledge
>about
>human beings. Foucault would often suggest that the whole "human sciences"
>were
>informed by the knowledge flowing from such relations of power.
>
>It's a striking thesis, for me at least, and is worth playing with, and
>applying
>to different contexts to see how fruitful it is.
>
>
>Hope that that "is" helpful.
>
>Phil Ryan
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
knowledge," and it did strike me as odd. In some cases they do seem to be
the same, while in others, not. For example, if you describe his work as an
"archaelogy of power" (rather than "knowledge), it does seem to be an
accurate description of what he did.
Does anyone "know" what the words for "power" and "knowledge" are in French?
>From: Phil Ryan <philip_ryan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: power/knowledge
>Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 09:34:48 -0400
>
>
>
>John Patrick wrote:
>
> > his basic
> > premise seems quite basic to me. The common expression "knowledge is
>power"
> > seems to summarize his position.There doesn't seem to be anything
> > revolutionary about that.
>
>As that great American philosopher, W.J. Clinton, once put it, it depends
>on
>"what the meaning of 'is' is"
>
>We regularly use the verb in English, without having to think about what
>heavy
>duty it does, how many shades of meaning it holds.
>
>For ex, we say that "2+2 is 4" and, conversely, "4 is 2+2"
>
>But "is" does not always entail this reversibility
>
>For example: Those who make the statement
>
>"Knowledge is power"
>
>are rarely willing to turn it around to say
>
>"Power is knowledge"
>
>One of the things that makes Foucault interesting for many of us is that he
>was
>willing to turn the phrase around. Foucault emphatically rejected the
>claim
>that he had simply identified knowledge with power, so it's better to read
>his
>claims as something like:
>
>knowledge <generates> power [ho-hum]
>
>power generates knowledge [more interesting, I think]
>
>One of the themes running through Discipline and Punish, to take one work,
>is
>how the prison and analogous institutions served to generate knowledge
>about
>human beings. Foucault would often suggest that the whole "human sciences"
>were
>informed by the knowledge flowing from such relations of power.
>
>It's a striking thesis, for me at least, and is worth playing with, and
>applying
>to different contexts to see how fruitful it is.
>
>
>Hope that that "is" helpful.
>
>Phil Ryan
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com