Re: [Foucault-L] High Court of Australia judge Crennan on post modernism and the law

["Clare O'Farrell" <c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I have to say I get a bit tired of reading this kind of simplistic 
rendition - which has become a widespread orthodoxy in some quarters 
- of Foucault's ideas on truth.

Here is an interesting interview with Foucault which has just gone up 
online with some points of view which might shake this orthodoxy a 
little. This interview has previously been difficult to access
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/historydept/michaelbess/Foucault%20Interview

>  Foucault recounts this anecdote to draw attention to what he regards as the
> arbitrariness of definitions framed to describe human behaviour, and the
> contingent nature of meaning or truth. This point is repeated in many places
> and under many guises throughout his oeuvre. He rejects our culture's long
> tradition of belief in objective truths, and the law's use of reason to
> establish truth, since 'truths' for him are fashioned by whatever is the
> dominant group paradigm or discourse.

--
regards
Clare
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Clare  O'Farrell
email: c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.michel-foucault.com
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