"Stupid" perhaps only in the sense that every question already
presupposes something of its possible answers. There may not be "an
agent" in the classical liberal humanist sense in Foucault but we
might say that there is "agency" insofar as there are active
relations of freedom and power. In "The Subject and Power" Foucault
wrote:
"There is no face to face confrontation of power and freedom which is mutually exclusive (freedom disappears everywhere power is exercise), but a much more complicated interplay. In this game freedom may well appear as the condition for the exercise of power (at the same time its precondition, since freedom must exist for power to be exerted, and also its permanent support, since without the possibility of recalcitrance, power would be equivalent to a physical determination)."
I hope that helps, Jani
Trent
"There is no face to face confrontation of power and freedom which is mutually exclusive (freedom disappears everywhere power is exercise), but a much more complicated interplay. In this game freedom may well appear as the condition for the exercise of power (at the same time its precondition, since freedom must exist for power to be exerted, and also its permanent support, since without the possibility of recalcitrance, power would be equivalent to a physical determination)."
I hope that helps, Jani
Trent
_______________________________________________
Arianna wrote:
its a stupid question, that's the answer
Why? The question is a bit vague as stated and may suggest that the
student
is hopelessly enmeshed in a department that is mostly concerned with
making
sure he learns the jargon of his field (as they see it) -- writes papers
that will
fly with reviewers and so forth. On the other hand, aren't there at
least
two kinds of answers that might make sense, depending on the more fully
elaborated question? (a) in Foucault's reader (for whom he built tools);
(b) in Foucault's "we", "ourselves", "one", etc. -- that agency which is
subject to the management of the body, of sex, of madness, etc. The two
answers are not contradictory or exclusive, of course.
It seems like the student is being asked to locate Foucault within a
famous
debate that has structured a lot of sociological research, and to which
researchers
in that field are expected to pay homage -- I would think that's a good
launching
point for many kinds of response. "Stupid question," may be accurate,
but
it isn't very fulfilling.
-t
Amateur Philosopher
jataseli@xxxxxxxxx wrote:treatments
Hello!
I´m a PhD student (MSocSc) in the Department of Social Sciences and
Philosophy at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.
My sociological research is about the history of drug addiction
inin Finland from 1960´s to present day. In this genealogical study I try
relate the changes in treatment practices to the changes of other
practices, be they discursive or non-discursive, that have made changes
relatedtreatment practices possible. So basic foucauldian stuff.
My current interests lie in the modern concept of addiction and in the
"original" problematization that the emergence of this concept was
studentto in the late 18th and early 19th century. Furthermore, being a
itof sociology I confront all the time the question "where´s the agent in
Foucault´s thought". I´ve got a kind of a answer to this question but
needs more clarification.
Yours
Jani Selin
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