"For us, the human body defines, by natural right, the
space of origin and distribution of disease; a space
whose lines, volumes, surfaces and routes are laid
down, in accordance with a now familiar . . .
anatomical atlas. But this order of the solid, visible
body is only one way--in all likelihood neither the
first, nor the most fundamental--in which one
spatializes disease. There have been, and will be,
other distributions of disease." Foucault, Birth of
the clinic.
Having said that, we are better prepared to entertain
other distributions of disease apart from those which
confine them to the space defined by the human body.
Before I said anything further on the matter, I would
first ask you to paraphrase your questions by finding
synomous terms and expressions for the- all too often
encumbant- word 'power'. (I.e., if power is productive
of truth-effects, then all truth-effects imply a power
regeime).
I can, however, suggest the following work of
histiography: 'The Persecutory Imagination: English
Puritanism and the Literature of Religious Despair',
by John Stachniewski, (Clarendon, 1991). On this note,
a historical study on the persecutory imagination
should, I believe, take two historical related themes
deeply into its consideration: 1) the structure and
organization of the persecution complex which
functions at the heart of what Nietzsche called slave
moralities, 2) the formation of the conscience.
If you are interested in looking into alternate
distributions of the idiopathological complexes
characteristic of the schizophrenia groups, such as
delusions of persecution and self-reference,
catatonia, mutism, negativism, waxi-flexibility, etc.,
then I recommend checking out R.D. Langs study on
'Sanity, madness and the family' which attempts to
make the process of the formation of the
symptomalogical complexes typical of the schizophrenia
group as they take shape in the naturalistic setting
of the family, intelligible in terms of social praxis.
There are many other directions whcih lay open to
us...
--- Samuel G Taylor <10012953@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> In "the Subject and Power", Foucault writes about
> pathologies of
> power, specifically Stalinism and Nazism I believe.
>
> These two pathological forms of power seems
> characterized by their
> excess, their size and their totalitarian natures.
>
> This made me wonder, are there other pathologies of
> power. What do you
> think would constitute a pathological form of power?
> Could it be that
> certain forms of power and power relations can be
> characterized as
> pathological? Could their be a realm of analysis
> that identifies these
> pathological forms?
>
> When I read Panopticism for the first time, I was
> struck by the utter
> paranoia it could create. Could some cases of
> paranoia be effects of
> power? I've heard some paranoid cases worried that
> people are
> constantly watching them, could this be caused by
> excess of power or at
> least caused by a specific power relation?
>
> I'm not really sure how to word this question, it is
> more of a thought
> I've had for a while. I'd love to hear any response.
>
> Thanks!
> Sam
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
space of origin and distribution of disease; a space
whose lines, volumes, surfaces and routes are laid
down, in accordance with a now familiar . . .
anatomical atlas. But this order of the solid, visible
body is only one way--in all likelihood neither the
first, nor the most fundamental--in which one
spatializes disease. There have been, and will be,
other distributions of disease." Foucault, Birth of
the clinic.
Having said that, we are better prepared to entertain
other distributions of disease apart from those which
confine them to the space defined by the human body.
Before I said anything further on the matter, I would
first ask you to paraphrase your questions by finding
synomous terms and expressions for the- all too often
encumbant- word 'power'. (I.e., if power is productive
of truth-effects, then all truth-effects imply a power
regeime).
I can, however, suggest the following work of
histiography: 'The Persecutory Imagination: English
Puritanism and the Literature of Religious Despair',
by John Stachniewski, (Clarendon, 1991). On this note,
a historical study on the persecutory imagination
should, I believe, take two historical related themes
deeply into its consideration: 1) the structure and
organization of the persecution complex which
functions at the heart of what Nietzsche called slave
moralities, 2) the formation of the conscience.
If you are interested in looking into alternate
distributions of the idiopathological complexes
characteristic of the schizophrenia groups, such as
delusions of persecution and self-reference,
catatonia, mutism, negativism, waxi-flexibility, etc.,
then I recommend checking out R.D. Langs study on
'Sanity, madness and the family' which attempts to
make the process of the formation of the
symptomalogical complexes typical of the schizophrenia
group as they take shape in the naturalistic setting
of the family, intelligible in terms of social praxis.
There are many other directions whcih lay open to
us...
--- Samuel G Taylor <10012953@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> In "the Subject and Power", Foucault writes about
> pathologies of
> power, specifically Stalinism and Nazism I believe.
>
> These two pathological forms of power seems
> characterized by their
> excess, their size and their totalitarian natures.
>
> This made me wonder, are there other pathologies of
> power. What do you
> think would constitute a pathological form of power?
> Could it be that
> certain forms of power and power relations can be
> characterized as
> pathological? Could their be a realm of analysis
> that identifies these
> pathological forms?
>
> When I read Panopticism for the first time, I was
> struck by the utter
> paranoia it could create. Could some cases of
> paranoia be effects of
> power? I've heard some paranoid cases worried that
> people are
> constantly watching them, could this be caused by
> excess of power or at
> least caused by a specific power relation?
>
> I'm not really sure how to word this question, it is
> more of a thought
> I've had for a while. I'd love to hear any response.
>
> Thanks!
> Sam
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com