Re: [Foucault-L] source of quote

Dreyfus & Rabinow cite that quotation as "personal communication". Their wording is: "People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what what they do does." As Henning noted, it's on p. 187 of Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics.

Matthew

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008, H. F. wrote:

Hi Nate,

As far as I can see the quote can be found in the Dreyfus/Rabinow
Reader. I do only have acces to the German translation at the moment,
so I cannot look up the precise formulation. Maybe you have the
possibility do do it yourself? It should be on page 187:
But Foucault—as he himself says—is less interested in knowing what and
why something is done but in the question of what one’s own ‘doing
does’ (Dreyfus, H. L. & P. Rabinow: Michel Foucault. Beyond
Structuralism and Hermeneutics, Chicago, IL, University of Chicago
Press, 1982, pp. 187)

The other famous quote is that of Marx when he tells us (in the 18th
Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte):
“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please;
they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under
circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.
The tradition of all dead generations weighs like an Alp on the brains
of the living...."

or when Marx talks about the Fetishism of commodities (Capital Volume
One):
“whenever, by an exchange, we equate as values our different products,
by that very act, we also equate, as human labour, the different kinds
of labour expended upon them. We are not aware of this, nevertheless
we do it.“

kind regards,

Henning



Am 22.08.2008 um 22:33 schrieb Nathaniel Roberts:

I seem to remember Foucault writing something along the following
lines:

"Men generally know what they are doing, and frequently know why
they are
doing it. But what they do not so often know is what what they are
doing
does."

This is my wording, not Foucault's, but I hope I have correctly
recalled the
essence of what he said. Or am I confusing him with some other
source?

Does anyone recall reading something like this by Foucault (or some
other
writer)?

Thanks in advance,
Nate

--
Nathaniel Roberts
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Columbia University
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