Re: John P's questions

John:

You are making an interesting contribution to this list by posing apparently
simple questions that
help get people focussed on "Foucault 101" again. So thanks for that.

By way of a quick answer to:

> Did Foucault think others were capable of using his methods?

A) On the one hand
Foucault stated "I write for users, not for readers" (D+E II, 524), and liked
to refer to his work
as a "tool-box" (Ibid, 523), and to himself as a "seller of tools, a maker of
recipes [recettes]"
(720).

B) On the other hand
He once offered the interesting comment that he would like his books to burn
themselves like
fireworks after having been read (Ibid., 725). I think he was pointing to the
nervousness that I
imagine any influential author feels at how their work will be used by others.
[I have a couple of
nice quotes from Weber lamenting how his "Protestant Ethic" was pressed into
service against
materialism; and we all know of Marx's "I am not a Marxist" statement.]


But what about:

> Do you believe others are capable of it?

Depends what you mean. There are many times I am working on something, and a
particular
insight or point of view on the topic comes that I don't think I would have
had without having
read Foucault. That, for me, is "using" Foucault, though perhaps you mean
something different.

Phil



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