Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence theory

Arnold Davidson also had an interesting bit in his introduction to F
and his Interlocutors about Foucault's scorning of his French
contemporaries for taking credit for discoveries that had already been
made by Anglo-American "analytic" philosophers some 20 years
previously. Strange that there seems to be marginal interest in
confronting F with a tradition he seemingly respected.

On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 8:10 AM, Nathaniel Roberts <npr4@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Another thing to keep in mind is that in Order of Things, Foucault was not
> addressing truth in general, but only truth within the realm of the human
> sciences (linguistics, economics, etc., and their predecessors).  He
> specifically says in the introduction that his argument does not apply to
> sciences such as physics (what I take to mean Kuhnian normal sciences).  And
> as either J. Fabian or Arnold Davidson (sorry I can't remember who it was)
> argues in one of the introductions to the series of collected writings put
> together by Paul Rabinow (or maybe it was in Davidson, ed, _Foucault and His
> Interlocutors_), Foucault was not the irrealist about truth that many of his
> critics, and some of his fans, make him out to be.  He was, on the contrary,
> perfectly ready to take many "would be purveryors of truth at their word."
> F's interest, as he somewhere wrote,  was in the relation *between*
> knowledge and power, not in equating the two.  The very notion of a relation
> implies that neither is reducible to the other.
> Nate
>
> On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 6:13 AM, Tim Rackett <timrackett@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi Chetan I think Ian Hacking's 'style of reasoning' can help you-although
>> hailing from an analytic tradition Hacking has great insight into the
>> 'positivism' qua historical ontology of MF
>>
>> > Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 20:53:50 -0700
>> > From: ali_m_rizvi@xxxxxxxxx
>> > To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence
>> theory
>> >
>> > Hi Chetan,
>> > To the extent that we can understand Focuault's major works (at least
>> until OT) as exploring the historical conditions of the possibility
>> > of certain discourses, practices, etc, his inquiry is more about
>> "meaning" and hence more fundamental (prior) to the question of truth. We
>> can raise
>> >
>> > the question of truth only about statements which are meaningful (the
>> statements we understand). Although, admittedly the question of truth can be
>> raised not just about a single or groups of statements, but also about an
>> entire episteme, in which case I think, both coherence and reference has a
>> role to play, but I don't think Foucault ever worried about such questions
>> himself.
>> >
>> > Ali
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> > From: Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>
>> > To: Mailing-list <foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> > Sent: Wednesday, April 6, 2011 11:28 AM
>> > Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence
>> theory
>> >
>> > Hey guys,
>> >
>> >    I was talking with a friend who is a grad student in analytic
>> > philosophy and we were debating about the issue of "truth" in both
>> > analytic and continental traditions. In the course of it, we came to a
>> > discussion of the merits of the correspondence theory of truth versus
>> > the coherence theory of truth. The former argues for the veracity of a
>> > statement to be tied to its referent empirical reality and how well it
>> > "describes" or "corresponds" to it (straightforward "truth"). The
>> > latter tying veracity to a statement's relationship to other
>> > connecting statements. Where exactly would Foucault fit between these
>> > two theories? Going by the Archaeology of Knowledge, I would say he
>> > criscrosses the divide (though more accurately he could be described
>> > as being Nietzschean about truth). But are there any analytically or
>> > partly analytically trained people on here that might provide their
>> > own views?
>> >
>> > --
>> > 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"
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Foucault-L mailing list
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Nathaniel Roberts
> Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
> Herman-Föge-Weg 11
> 37073 Göttingen
> Germany
> +49 (0) 551-4956-0
> _______________________________________________
> 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"


Folow-ups
  • Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence theory
    • From: Nathaniel Roberts
  • Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence theory
    • From: ricky
  • Replies
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence theory, Ali Rizvi
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence theory, Tim Rackett
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault, correspondence theory vs coherence theory, Nathaniel Roberts
    Partial thread listing: