Dear Foucault-philes,
Following this discussion of where to download Foucault-related books, and
in light of the recent sudden demise of Megaupload, I wonder if anybody
has considered what Foucault himself would say about the (illegal) free
downloading of published books?
We all know the interview in which he says he'd like to see a year of
publishing anonymously - but I don't recall the year of free books!
I ask because I have found my own books on some of these sites and I have
to admit that at the time I told my publisher about it. Informing on the
free flow of information is shameful isn't it. Or is it? The problem is
that if my publisher didn't get paid for their books then they wouldn't be
offering contracts to me (or anybody else), which would cause serious
problems for us all - esp when it comes to getting jobs, tenure, etc — not
to mention putting citations in your bibliography.
I understand that access to philosophy shouldn't be dependent on financial
means, esp for graduate students. But isn't that what libraries are for?
But, of course, it's so much more convenient to have a searchable pdf file,
isn't it? I actually illegally downloaded my own books just so I could have
a complete pdf version - the publisher didn't give me one.
So I'm not necessarily condemning the practice - perhaps it's just the
first move in a major epistemic shift - but I do think it would be
interesting to discuss it from a Foucauldian perspective.
Regards,
Timothy
Following this discussion of where to download Foucault-related books, and
in light of the recent sudden demise of Megaupload, I wonder if anybody
has considered what Foucault himself would say about the (illegal) free
downloading of published books?
We all know the interview in which he says he'd like to see a year of
publishing anonymously - but I don't recall the year of free books!
I ask because I have found my own books on some of these sites and I have
to admit that at the time I told my publisher about it. Informing on the
free flow of information is shameful isn't it. Or is it? The problem is
that if my publisher didn't get paid for their books then they wouldn't be
offering contracts to me (or anybody else), which would cause serious
problems for us all - esp when it comes to getting jobs, tenure, etc — not
to mention putting citations in your bibliography.
I understand that access to philosophy shouldn't be dependent on financial
means, esp for graduate students. But isn't that what libraries are for?
But, of course, it's so much more convenient to have a searchable pdf file,
isn't it? I actually illegally downloaded my own books just so I could have
a complete pdf version - the publisher didn't give me one.
So I'm not necessarily condemning the practice - perhaps it's just the
first move in a major epistemic shift - but I do think it would be
interesting to discuss it from a Foucauldian perspective.
Regards,
Timothy