Not to mention that Foucault continued to pay homage to figures not only
from France but also from Germany like Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Kant for
their influence on his methods.
On Wed, May 2, 2007 7:05 am, c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Kaori writes
>
>
>> I remember finally understanding the implication of this article, and
>> thinking, 'but, I'm Japanese! I can't carry the torch of western
>> enlightenment! I can't be a Foucaultian! Why the hxxx couldn't
>> Foucault
>> claim to be universal?!'
>>
>> .but of course, he didn't, and so I'm stuck trying to negotiate trying
>> to be 'Foucaultian' and retain all the other bits and bobs that make me
>> who I am..
>>
>
> This is an interesting point but in my view the solution is easy.
>
>
> Foucault often commented that his work was a toolbox and that people
> should take from his work what they found useful and expand those ideas
> into various areas they personally found of interest or were able to take
> action in. He also suggests that in general we plunder the 'cultural
> inventions of mankind' for 'devices, techniques, ideas, procedures, and so
> on' that can be helpful as tools for analysing and attempting to change
> the current situation. ('On the genealogy of ethics" , in Essential works
> 1, p. 261).
>
>
> I've noticed that in all the articles and interviews that were originally
> published in Japan, Foucault was very careful to say that his work was
> done within a French context. Paradoxically, in my view, it is Foucault's
> very insistance on the specific historical and geographical location of
> his work that makes it so usable by others.
>
> Universal ideas often tend to exert terrorist effects - as in actuality
> they really only apply to specific situations once you analyse their
> origins. One often wonders when presented with universal ideas, why they
> don't quite fit a whole range of things they are meant to apply to and one
> can become frustrated, not to mention feel excluded, by the lack of fit
> after a while.
>
> On the other hand quite specific ideas which apply to quite specific
> situations can be easily adapted and changed as necessary by using a
> process of analogy to fit other situations. This is one of the reasons, in
> my view, why Foucault's work is so productive in so many geographical and
> disciplinary arenas.
>
> People read his work and say - well, these articles are about the State,
> and liberal philosophies of government and self government in nineteenth
> century France - but these ideas are really interesting - they give me a
> new and exciting way of thinking about public and private transport in
> Australia.
>
>
> Or, I am shocked by the descriptions of the treatment of mad people and
> prisoners in European history - this looks somewhat similar to other
> situations I know about - maybe I can apply some of these insights in
> modified form to these other situations.
>
> Clare
> ****************************************
> Clare O'Farrell
> email: c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
> website: http://www.michel-foucault.com
> ****************************************
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
>
from France but also from Germany like Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Kant for
their influence on his methods.
On Wed, May 2, 2007 7:05 am, c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Kaori writes
>
>
>> I remember finally understanding the implication of this article, and
>> thinking, 'but, I'm Japanese! I can't carry the torch of western
>> enlightenment! I can't be a Foucaultian! Why the hxxx couldn't
>> Foucault
>> claim to be universal?!'
>>
>> .but of course, he didn't, and so I'm stuck trying to negotiate trying
>> to be 'Foucaultian' and retain all the other bits and bobs that make me
>> who I am..
>>
>
> This is an interesting point but in my view the solution is easy.
>
>
> Foucault often commented that his work was a toolbox and that people
> should take from his work what they found useful and expand those ideas
> into various areas they personally found of interest or were able to take
> action in. He also suggests that in general we plunder the 'cultural
> inventions of mankind' for 'devices, techniques, ideas, procedures, and so
> on' that can be helpful as tools for analysing and attempting to change
> the current situation. ('On the genealogy of ethics" , in Essential works
> 1, p. 261).
>
>
> I've noticed that in all the articles and interviews that were originally
> published in Japan, Foucault was very careful to say that his work was
> done within a French context. Paradoxically, in my view, it is Foucault's
> very insistance on the specific historical and geographical location of
> his work that makes it so usable by others.
>
> Universal ideas often tend to exert terrorist effects - as in actuality
> they really only apply to specific situations once you analyse their
> origins. One often wonders when presented with universal ideas, why they
> don't quite fit a whole range of things they are meant to apply to and one
> can become frustrated, not to mention feel excluded, by the lack of fit
> after a while.
>
> On the other hand quite specific ideas which apply to quite specific
> situations can be easily adapted and changed as necessary by using a
> process of analogy to fit other situations. This is one of the reasons, in
> my view, why Foucault's work is so productive in so many geographical and
> disciplinary arenas.
>
> People read his work and say - well, these articles are about the State,
> and liberal philosophies of government and self government in nineteenth
> century France - but these ideas are really interesting - they give me a
> new and exciting way of thinking about public and private transport in
> Australia.
>
>
> Or, I am shocked by the descriptions of the treatment of mad people and
> prisoners in European history - this looks somewhat similar to other
> situations I know about - maybe I can apply some of these insights in
> modified form to these other situations.
>
> Clare
> ****************************************
> Clare O'Farrell
> email: c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
> website: http://www.michel-foucault.com
> ****************************************
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
>