No, historicist in the sense that the historical a priori tends to
function like a 'spirit of the age', producing a periodization as an
'essential section' (see Althusser's critique of historicism in
Reading Capital). I don't mean simply that it refers to the
historical context in which the works were produced; all worthwhile
analysis must take that into account at some level. Jameson and
Lyotard are both historicist in different ways - they just oppose
each other - see for Warren Montag's analysis 'What's at Stake in the
Debate on Postmodernism' (1988) for a useful, if somewhat polemical,
critique
On 21/04/2009, at 10:14 AM, Chetan Vemuri wrote:
On 21/04/2009, at 10:14 AM, Chetan Vemuri wrote:
I agree
Foucault did later say that he found Order of Things to be a marginal work
to his enterprise no? Or was that some interpreter?
Parts of it are still useful for understanding both the earlier and the
following work like Archaeology of Knowledge, Discipline and Punish, etc. A
comparative lit professor of mine also related a similar opinion.
"Personally I find the Order of Things to be historicist to a quite
objectionable degree"
How so? Too focused on history? Pardon my ignorance at interpretation lol
On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 4:56 PM, David McInerney <vagabond@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I think you need to read The Order of Things more carefully, but you
will notice that Smith is positioned as a transitional figure whereas
David Ricardo is pretty much centred on a concept of man. Whether
the empirico-transcendental doublet idea (which relates predominantly
to Kant) is valid for Ricardo is a good question, but undoubtedly
Ricardo's work is centred on a notion of human nature. As far as
J.S. Mill is concerned, well there is a shift there in terms of how
value is explained but in abstract terms he is just as theoretical
humanist as Ricardo.
I suggest reading Keith Tribe's Land, Labour and Economic Discourse
(1978). It's old, but still valuable. You won't find adequate
answers to this on an email list, sorry.
You might also try the chapter on Foucault in Lecourt's Marxism and
Epistemology for a critical view of Foucault's work of this period,
especially regarding the Ricardo/Marx question.
Personally I find the Order of Things to be historicist to a quite
objectionable degree, and even Hegelian. Foucault went on to provide
an implicit critique of it in subsequent work, and didn't return to
certain of its formulations regarding historical a prioris etc, which
posed in such an abstract way were perhaps poorly formulated.
Anyway, I'm sure there are people here who would see Foucault's work
as some kind of unity and would be appalled by what I have just stated!
On 21/04/2009, at 2:35 AM, Emmanoel B wrote:
Hello, Chetan,
It is true, the "Birth of Biopolitics" is useful as well. To be more
precise, I would like to verify if "man" understood as an
empirico-transcendental doublet is found in the economic works of
J. S. Mil,
A. Smith and W.S. Jevons, despite Foucault's definition of
economics as an
empirical science. I am trying to better qualify Foucault's
statements in
the works of those three economists.
Best regards,
Emmanoel
2009/4/20 Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>
You might want to complement that with Foucault's 1979 course, The_______________________________________________
Birth of
Biopolitics, which, unlike those two (fine book as they are),
actually
deals
with economics and the figure of man in neoliberal economy, "homo
oeconomicus".
On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Emmanoel B <emmanoelb@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi, all,similar
I am doing research on the history of economics from a foucauldian
perspective (mainly from "The Order of Things" and "Archaeology of
Knowledge"). I try to verify if Foucault's figure of Man appears
in the
works of some economists of the nineteenth century. If anyone has a
kind of research or would like to exchange ideas about Foucault andhistory
economics, please, feel free to contact me!
Emmanoel
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(319)-512-9318
"You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to
change the
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Chetan Vemuri
West Des Moines, IA
aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
(319)-512-9318
"You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
world"
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