Rather than say he is a "Kantian" (the line of Hacking) i would argue
that he carries out his own project of a "historical ontology of
ourselves", a project that has key antecedents in Kant's notion of
critique and a-prioris (among other things).
But like his reading of Nietzsche, his goal with Kant is to use and
distort him to see what can be done with his ideas.
His question regarding the "end of man" is rooted in his notion of
the subject as a historical formation that varies from period to
period, society to society. It invokes Nietzsche's calls for the
demise of a particular way of thinking in European philosophy (death
of God). While he rejects this rather bombastic invocation in the name
of a re-shaping of the social sciences based on structuralism, he
still retains the idea of a historically determined subject.
On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 1:15 PM, james <spatium@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Arianna, I have read it, yes. It is rather dense, but I found
> Beatrice Han's book (and essays) very helpful. I'm still not sure how
> much the problems he identifies there carry his own work. For
> example, his conclusion to The Order of Things seems to put his
> analysis of Kant to work in a Nietzsche frame, and it seems that
> without Kant's anthropology this would not have been possible. Even
> though later on he rejects the book, I wonder how much the "place of
> man" remains throughout his corpus, if only as an empty space. An
> empty space, moreover, than disperses itself and will have nothing to
> do with the "last instance" (Althusser).
>
> And Arianna, I will read you essay on F's Introduction, but until
> then, is he Kantian simply by virtue of his use of a prioris, or is it
> the specific way in which he problematizes the appearance of the
> transcendental in the empirical? Is Foucault working out the Kantian
> aporia of inner sense, or leaving it behind?
>
> james
>
> On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Douglas Olena <doug@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> James and Arianna,
>>
>> I think Arianna is correct James, Foucault thought of himself as a Kantian. Semiotext(e) published a translation of Foucault's Introduction to Kant's Anthropology in 2008. It is, as far as I know, complete, unlike the online version Arianna pointed you to. You might also be interested in The Politics of Truth, also Semiotext(e), a collection of Foucault's essays edited by Sylvère Lotringer. Some of the Kantian connections, especially the first three essays by Foucault follow Kant's suggestions, critique Kant, and the Enlightenment.
>>
>> Best.
>>
>> Doug
>>
>> -----
>> Douglas Olena
>> doug@xxxxxxxxx
>> http://olena.com/wordpress1
>> -----
>>
>> On Nov 6, 2010, at 5:13 AM, ari wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Hi James,
>>>
>>> have you read it? It's been online for many years now.
>>> http://www.generation-online.org/p/fpfoucault1.htm
>>> Foucault also makes an explicit connection in the entry he wrote under the
>>> pseudonym Maurice Florence to the Dictionnaire des Philosophes on himself,
>>> which begins like this: 'To the extent that Foucault fits into the
>>> philosophical tradition, it is in the critical tradition of Kant, and his
>>> project could be called a critical history of thought' (p. 457 of Michel
>>> Foucault Essential volume 2 Aesthetics).
>>> My comments on your questions are online, but in short I'd add that crucial
>>> to this particular work is not only the ethical and political issue of what
>>> man makes of himself, but also a clear stance against transcendentalism in
>>> all its forms and for a peculiar epistemological pragmatics.
>>>
>>> Enjoy it,
>>>
>>> Arianna
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, 5 Nov 2010 23:08:55 -0400, james <spatium@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> In the previous thread there was a tie into F's dissertation (1 of 2)
>>>> on Kant's pragmatic anthropology. If this in fact demonstrates F's
>>>> connection to Kant...in what way? By pointing out the arrival of man
>>>> as doublet, and identifying the role of an "originary" in terms of
>>>> something like an empirical a priori, strong connections can be made
>>>> with F's early work of his own. But I wonder, what use does F make of
>>>> these notions - is it critical or constructive (that is, is he a
>>>> neo-Kantian)?
>>>>
>>>> james
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
--
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"
that he carries out his own project of a "historical ontology of
ourselves", a project that has key antecedents in Kant's notion of
critique and a-prioris (among other things).
But like his reading of Nietzsche, his goal with Kant is to use and
distort him to see what can be done with his ideas.
His question regarding the "end of man" is rooted in his notion of
the subject as a historical formation that varies from period to
period, society to society. It invokes Nietzsche's calls for the
demise of a particular way of thinking in European philosophy (death
of God). While he rejects this rather bombastic invocation in the name
of a re-shaping of the social sciences based on structuralism, he
still retains the idea of a historically determined subject.
On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 1:15 PM, james <spatium@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Arianna, I have read it, yes. It is rather dense, but I found
> Beatrice Han's book (and essays) very helpful. I'm still not sure how
> much the problems he identifies there carry his own work. For
> example, his conclusion to The Order of Things seems to put his
> analysis of Kant to work in a Nietzsche frame, and it seems that
> without Kant's anthropology this would not have been possible. Even
> though later on he rejects the book, I wonder how much the "place of
> man" remains throughout his corpus, if only as an empty space. An
> empty space, moreover, than disperses itself and will have nothing to
> do with the "last instance" (Althusser).
>
> And Arianna, I will read you essay on F's Introduction, but until
> then, is he Kantian simply by virtue of his use of a prioris, or is it
> the specific way in which he problematizes the appearance of the
> transcendental in the empirical? Is Foucault working out the Kantian
> aporia of inner sense, or leaving it behind?
>
> james
>
> On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Douglas Olena <doug@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> James and Arianna,
>>
>> I think Arianna is correct James, Foucault thought of himself as a Kantian. Semiotext(e) published a translation of Foucault's Introduction to Kant's Anthropology in 2008. It is, as far as I know, complete, unlike the online version Arianna pointed you to. You might also be interested in The Politics of Truth, also Semiotext(e), a collection of Foucault's essays edited by Sylvère Lotringer. Some of the Kantian connections, especially the first three essays by Foucault follow Kant's suggestions, critique Kant, and the Enlightenment.
>>
>> Best.
>>
>> Doug
>>
>> -----
>> Douglas Olena
>> doug@xxxxxxxxx
>> http://olena.com/wordpress1
>> -----
>>
>> On Nov 6, 2010, at 5:13 AM, ari wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Hi James,
>>>
>>> have you read it? It's been online for many years now.
>>> http://www.generation-online.org/p/fpfoucault1.htm
>>> Foucault also makes an explicit connection in the entry he wrote under the
>>> pseudonym Maurice Florence to the Dictionnaire des Philosophes on himself,
>>> which begins like this: 'To the extent that Foucault fits into the
>>> philosophical tradition, it is in the critical tradition of Kant, and his
>>> project could be called a critical history of thought' (p. 457 of Michel
>>> Foucault Essential volume 2 Aesthetics).
>>> My comments on your questions are online, but in short I'd add that crucial
>>> to this particular work is not only the ethical and political issue of what
>>> man makes of himself, but also a clear stance against transcendentalism in
>>> all its forms and for a peculiar epistemological pragmatics.
>>>
>>> Enjoy it,
>>>
>>> Arianna
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, 5 Nov 2010 23:08:55 -0400, james <spatium@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> In the previous thread there was a tie into F's dissertation (1 of 2)
>>>> on Kant's pragmatic anthropology. If this in fact demonstrates F's
>>>> connection to Kant...in what way? By pointing out the arrival of man
>>>> as doublet, and identifying the role of an "originary" in terms of
>>>> something like an empirical a priori, strong connections can be made
>>>> with F's early work of his own. But I wonder, what use does F make of
>>>> these notions - is it critical or constructive (that is, is he a
>>>> neo-Kantian)?
>>>>
>>>> james
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
--
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"