Studies in the Philosophy of Michel Foucault: A French Alternative to Anglo-Americanism

169 Pages·2010·3.632 MB·English

by  Brian Lightbody, Rohit Dalvi

STUDIES IN THE LILO _FTIY
OF MICHEL FOUCAULT
A French Alternative to Anglo-Americanism
Edited by
Brian Lightbody
and
Rohit Dalvi
With a Commendatory Preface by
Gabor Csepregi
The Edwin Mellen Press
Lewiston•Queenston.Lampeter
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Studies in the philosophy of Michel Foucault : a French alternative to Anglo-
Americanism / edited by Brian Lightbody and Rohit Dalvi ; with a [commendatory]
preface by Gabor Csepregi.
p. em.
Proceedings of a conference held in Mar. 2008 at Brock University.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-1324-5
ISBN-10: 0-7734-1324-3
1. Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984--Congresses. 2. Philosophy--Congresses. I.
Lightbody, Brian. II. Dalvi, Rohit, 1974-
B2430.F724S88 2010
194--dc22
2010022743
hors. serie.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2010 Brian Lightbody and Rohit Dalvi
All rights reserved. For information contact
(cid:9)
The Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press
(cid:9)
Box 450 Box 67
(cid:9)
Lewiston, New York Queenston, Ontario
(cid:9)
USA 14092-0450 CANADA LOS ILO
The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd.
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales
UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT
Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents
Commendatory Preface by Gabor Csepregi
Editors' Preface(cid:9) iii
Introduction
Subjectivity(cid:9) 1
(cid:9)
Chapter 1 3
Public and Private Within the Panoptic Modality of Facebook
Sarah Hamilton (Trent University)
(cid:9)
Chapter 2 29
The Reviser and the Whistle-Blower
Scott Nicholson (Queens University)
Truth(cid:9) 45
(cid:9)
Chapter 3 47
Foucault and Historical Epistemology: Development
and Critique of the Philosophy of the Norm
Samuel Talcott (University of the Sciences, Philadelphia)
(cid:9)
Chapter 4 67
Archaeology, Genealogy, Method
Scott Balasak (McMaster University)
(cid:9)
Chapter 5 91
Foucault, Truth, Genealogy
Saladdin Ahmed (Ottawa University)
(cid:9)
Chapter 6 107
Practices of Freedom: Foucault as Eudaimonist
Rohit Dalvi (Brock University)
(cid:9)
Chapter 7 121
Foucault and His Use of the Ancients
Annie Larivee (Carleton University)
(cid:9)
Chapter 8 141
Self-Transformation and Foucault
Brian Lightbody (Brock University)
Commendatory Preface
Michel Foucault is doubtless one of most studied philosophers by the
younger generation of scholars. Why do they turn with so much interest and
curiosity to Foucault's books and lectures? Some are attracted to a thinker who
devoted much of his energies to unmasking the most subtle modes of subjection
in both the past and present ages. Others value his provocative insights and
brilliant analyses on pivotal philosophical questions. The interests of Foucault
were wide ranging. He wrote extensively on knowledge, history, subjectivity,
science, language, body, ethics, education, and philosophy itself. Today lhe
wealth of his ideas generates critical reactions and creative reflections. This book
illustrates, for instance, how the central notions of self-transformation and
exertion of power could be approached by fresh and stimulating considerations. In
addition, the authors situate Foucault's practical philosophy in relation to views
expressed by some eminent thinkers - Kant, Nietzsche, Dewey, or Bachelard.
Thus they successfully highlight the originality and unity of Foucault's critical
studies.
No thought starts from scratch. However innovative the theories on power
relations and historical constitution of the human subjectivity are. Foucault still
seems to remain the heir of a long tradition that descends from the Greeks. lf, in
the eyes of Foucault, a serious philosophical work should vigorously denounce
various schemes of domination, it also has to articulate an ethics in which the care
of the self and self-transformation are central concerns. To be sure. Foucault
offers a radically new interpretation of the ancient ethics: the self is undergoing
transformation through various daily practices in order to develop a political
resistance. Although he strongly emphasizes the significance of historical political
contexts, as well as the web of social relations created within these contexts, his
underlying understanding of philosophy, and of the role it plays, takes its roots in
the Antiquity and is shaped by his original reading of the philosophers of the
tradition. In this respect Foucault's thoughts transcend a particular age. Surely,
this is the sign of a great philosopher.
The present collection of essays has the great merit of clarifying
Foucault's ethical and political views in relation to some superficial and
erroneous interpretations and shedding new light on the process of self-
transformation. More importantly perhaps, the authors masterfully show what
philosophy can achieve when it dares to challenge well entrenched views on
contemporary ethical and social issues and, at the same time, seeks to remain
reliant on its own historical roots.
Gabor Csepregi
Dominican University College
111
Editors' Preface
This collection of essays stems from a conference sponsored by the
Foucault Circle of Canada and held at Brock University in March of 2008. The
theme of the conference was simply "Foucault and Philosophy." Such a theme
may seem trite, but our intention was to bring Foucault back into the
philosophical fold. The Foucauldian secondary literature has been dominated by
sociologists, psychologists, criminologists and, increasingly, geographers for
decades. We expect this trend to continue and look forward to seeing what new
insights from Foucault's rich corpus may be gleaned from these diverse fields.
We wanted to reverse this trend, if only for a day. Our purpose was clear: we were
to bring together these "many lines of flight", these many threads and myriad
interests of Foucault and tie them to their common source: philosophy. In a sense
our aim was to remind all of those working on Foucault that he was first and
foremost a philosopher.
The work of most philosophers orbits around one, two or perhaps three
central themes. Foucault is no different. The present study focuses on the three
principal aspects of Foucault's work as Foucault himself acknowledged them to
be namely, subjectivity, truth and power. We hope this volume will be of interest
and assistance to the beginner and the expert alike, but above all we hope that we
have preserved the integrity, profundity and fecundity of Foucault's thought.
Editors: Brian Lightbody and Rohit Dalvi.