there does seem to be a general consensus, of course with some detractors, that it is neither possible nor desireable to attempt to get at the real Foucault.
Given this, what you question seems to raise is the criteria by which we judge good and bad interpretations.
Regards,
Kevin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:15:53 -0500
> To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] The Hermeneutics of the Subject and volumes 2
> and 3 of the History of Sexuality
>
> Besides, I don't think it would be unproblematic to go for a "true
> Foucault"
> as I don't think one could find or especially Foucault himself would
> desire
> a true, stable objective source for his thought. He wasn't just indulging
> in
> cheap worldplay when he said "I write to have no face".
>
> On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 6:14 AM, Chetan Vemuri
> <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> I understand Kevin but I wasn't intending what you think I said.
>> What I meant was that people got these flawed notions that Foucault was
>> proposing a sexual dandyism and generalizing Greek techniques of the
>> self by
>> reading just those two books when really he was just talking about
>> specific
>> instances with those rather than the entire techniques of self, and I
>> thought that The Hermeneutics of the Subject simply showed the larger
>> framework he was working in and served to demonstrate that his
>> conception of
>> greek practices were not limited to sex but much larger and broader
>> concerns, a broader and and very accurate conception they give little
>> credit
>> for.
>> But yes, your points are very true.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 6:08 AM, Kevin Turner
>> <kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> Chetan,
>>>
>>> For a long time, the only text I had read by Foucault was "Discipline
>>> and
>>> Punish," and from this reading, I think I formed a very clear and
>>> coherent
>>> understanding of what Foucault was doing with this book, of the kind of
>>> work
>>> it was carrying out.
>>>
>>> Somewhat later, I began to read all the texts available in English, and
>>> consequently formed a different understanding of what was taking place
>>> in
>>> the pages of DP.
>>>
>>> Is this second reading more accurate than the first? Is it a reading
>>> which, due to the extra material, produces a more fuller, more
>>> detailed,
>>> more sophisticated, and truer understanding of what takes place in DP?
>>> I'm
>>> not sure. For me it simply represents a different understanding, one
>>> that in
>>> no way invalidates my original reading of the text, but which has
>>> certainly
>>> modified that reading.
>>>
>>> This also holds for my undertaking of what happens in DP following my
>>> reading of the Collège de France lectures that took place prior to its
>>> publication (Psychiatric Power, Abnormal), and which formed the
>>> background
>>> research for it.
>>>
>>> Does all this extra data bring me "closer" to the "real" Foucault as
>>> this
>>> is presented in Discipline and Punish? Once again, I'm not sure. But I
>>> don't
>>> think so. I think that the difference between my reading of that text
>>> 14
>>> years ago and now is not one of accuracy, but one of interpretation.
>>>
>>> So, I think I would respond to your question by saying that
>>> "Hermeneutic
>>> of the Subject" does not so much reveal the "true light" of UP and CS
>>> but,
>>> rather, opens up a different aperture (grid of intelligibility) through
>>> which these texts can be read and understood.
>>>
>>> There are only interpretations of interpretations...
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Kevin.
>>>
>>> ____________________________________________________________
>>> Receive Notifications of Incoming Messages
>>> Easily monitor multiple email accounts & access them with a click.
>>> Visit http://www.inbox.com/notifier and check it out!
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chetan Vemuri
>> West Des Moines, IA
>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> (515)-418-2771
>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>> world"
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Chetan Vemuri
> West Des Moines, IA
> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
> (515)-418-2771
> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
> world"
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
____________________________________________________________
FREE 3D EARTH SCREENSAVER - Watch the Earth right on your desktop!
Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/earth
Given this, what you question seems to raise is the criteria by which we judge good and bad interpretations.
Regards,
Kevin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:15:53 -0500
> To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] The Hermeneutics of the Subject and volumes 2
> and 3 of the History of Sexuality
>
> Besides, I don't think it would be unproblematic to go for a "true
> Foucault"
> as I don't think one could find or especially Foucault himself would
> desire
> a true, stable objective source for his thought. He wasn't just indulging
> in
> cheap worldplay when he said "I write to have no face".
>
> On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 6:14 AM, Chetan Vemuri
> <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> I understand Kevin but I wasn't intending what you think I said.
>> What I meant was that people got these flawed notions that Foucault was
>> proposing a sexual dandyism and generalizing Greek techniques of the
>> self by
>> reading just those two books when really he was just talking about
>> specific
>> instances with those rather than the entire techniques of self, and I
>> thought that The Hermeneutics of the Subject simply showed the larger
>> framework he was working in and served to demonstrate that his
>> conception of
>> greek practices were not limited to sex but much larger and broader
>> concerns, a broader and and very accurate conception they give little
>> credit
>> for.
>> But yes, your points are very true.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 6:08 AM, Kevin Turner
>> <kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> Chetan,
>>>
>>> For a long time, the only text I had read by Foucault was "Discipline
>>> and
>>> Punish," and from this reading, I think I formed a very clear and
>>> coherent
>>> understanding of what Foucault was doing with this book, of the kind of
>>> work
>>> it was carrying out.
>>>
>>> Somewhat later, I began to read all the texts available in English, and
>>> consequently formed a different understanding of what was taking place
>>> in
>>> the pages of DP.
>>>
>>> Is this second reading more accurate than the first? Is it a reading
>>> which, due to the extra material, produces a more fuller, more
>>> detailed,
>>> more sophisticated, and truer understanding of what takes place in DP?
>>> I'm
>>> not sure. For me it simply represents a different understanding, one
>>> that in
>>> no way invalidates my original reading of the text, but which has
>>> certainly
>>> modified that reading.
>>>
>>> This also holds for my undertaking of what happens in DP following my
>>> reading of the Collège de France lectures that took place prior to its
>>> publication (Psychiatric Power, Abnormal), and which formed the
>>> background
>>> research for it.
>>>
>>> Does all this extra data bring me "closer" to the "real" Foucault as
>>> this
>>> is presented in Discipline and Punish? Once again, I'm not sure. But I
>>> don't
>>> think so. I think that the difference between my reading of that text
>>> 14
>>> years ago and now is not one of accuracy, but one of interpretation.
>>>
>>> So, I think I would respond to your question by saying that
>>> "Hermeneutic
>>> of the Subject" does not so much reveal the "true light" of UP and CS
>>> but,
>>> rather, opens up a different aperture (grid of intelligibility) through
>>> which these texts can be read and understood.
>>>
>>> There are only interpretations of interpretations...
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Kevin.
>>>
>>> ____________________________________________________________
>>> Receive Notifications of Incoming Messages
>>> Easily monitor multiple email accounts & access them with a click.
>>> Visit http://www.inbox.com/notifier and check it out!
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chetan Vemuri
>> West Des Moines, IA
>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> (515)-418-2771
>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>> world"
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Chetan Vemuri
> West Des Moines, IA
> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
> (515)-418-2771
> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
> world"
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
____________________________________________________________
FREE 3D EARTH SCREENSAVER - Watch the Earth right on your desktop!
Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/earth