Key Thinker: Michel Foucault - Term Paper Example

Key Thinker: Michel Foucault The thinker that this essay will study is Michel Foucault. Born in 1926 in Poitiers, France, Foucault was raised in a wealthy family. His father a successful surgeon who hoped Michel would follow in his footsteps. Michel, however, had other plans. He attended Saint Stanislas, gaining solid education in French, Latin and history. He never enjoyed subjects like Mathematics but reveled in literature, language and history. Foucault had first-hand experience of the Nazi occupation of France in 1939 when the Second World War started. Foucault gained secondary education in Paris at the Lycée Henri-IV. Here he was able to study under Jean Hyppolite, who introduced young Foucault to Hegel and Marx. Foucault’s intelligence and sharpness of mind was evident in his academic performance; he excelled at philosophy and history. In 1946, he gained admittance to École Normale Supérieure, the prestigious French school known for its Nobel Laureates and many other prolific alumni. Here Foucault was able to learn under the tutelage of Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger. He received his doctorate under the guidance of Georges Canguilhem. Key Influences on Foucault At secondary school, he was under the tutelage of Jean Hyppolite. Hyppolite is a renowned French existentialist who drew inspiration from the author of German idealism, Georg Hegel. Although Foucault did not share Hyppolite’s agreement with Hegelian ideas, Foucault’s early exposure to Hyppolite’s passion influenced his later work predominantly in three ways ways: a) Foucault acquired an appreciation for history in the study of philosophy, b) concept of human individual or man (Foucault, 2012), as examined by existentialism, and c) interest in the works of Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant and other notable philosophers. Another great influence on Foucault’s work is German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Despite having been exposed to the philosophy of another German Hegel previously, Foucault took more affiliation with Nietzsche to whom he came in contact with when he read the German philosopher’s work called Untimely Meditations in the early 1950s. one of the most impactful ways Foucault took to Nietzsche was his method of archaeology as a way of interpreting history (Gutting, 2012) Other key influencers include Georges Bataille and Maurice Blanchot. Most Important Arguments Foucault was a social theorist, an academic, a historian and a philosopher. Much literature about him stresses his ardor for knowing the history of ideas and things in order to understand the present existence and future forms of these. However, Foucault never attempted to dissect ‘contemporary problems’ (Foucault, 1996) and reach the source of these through a process similar to reverse engineering. Instead, Foucault wanted to pinpoint issues of consideration in the current time and question the way we think of these issues, our interpretations and perceptions of these issues; through this process of criticizing, the truth about the issue is revealed, when it is separated from the biases of popular interpretations. Foucault’s earliest work, which was actually his doctoral dissertation and later published as a book, studied madness as it is perceived today. Going in accordance with his belief that history shapes how anything is perceived, Foucault looked at the evolution of the idea of madness as it was coined in the Age of Reason. Madness, Foucault argues, is perceived to be the opposite of Reason. Foucault studied the development of madness into the modern concept of mental illness. Taking his ideas about madness to the next stage, Foucault made a study of the treatment of madness – mental illness in mental institutions and how this treatment is extended to a social, public context. Foucault was of the opinion, critiquing in actuality, that the treatment of this mental illness is actually a manifestation of the manipulative, jaundiced bourgeois society, rather than a neutral unadulterated science (Gutting, 2012). Foucault was also very affected by the treatment of marginalized groups by the bourgeois society which includes homosexuals, mentally ill (mad) people and prisoners (Gutting) which influenced his way of thinking and reacting to society. Foucault is believed to be largely pessimistic in his views. However, he says in one of his interviews that the belief that things are the best they can be is not optimism per se; as a matter of fact, knowing that things can be changed (for the better) is more positive and progressive; taking underlying assumptions of our thoughts and views as nonnegotiable constants is rather disheartening. Instead, believing that things can be questioned and changed is more optimistic. (Foucault, 1996) Foucault also studied the prison system in Europe and how meted punishment and judgments had changed over the centuries, which he documented in his book. Gutting (2012), writes for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy that Foucault stresses a better method of control that relies on effective punishment, rather than brutal punishment. This type will be applicable not only to the prison model of Foucault’s book The Birth of the Clinic, but on the society as a whole, including schools, workplaces and hospitals. Developing on the idea of a more effective method of practicing power, Foucault described three techniques: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and examination. By hierarchical observation, he means that in some situations, it is sufficient to control only through observing those whom society wants power over. Through normalizing judgment, Foucault asserts that the harsher tones of traditional judicial systems must be toned down by moving from the clearly demarcated black and white of what is right and wrong to creating norms or standards in society that people must be encouraged to live up to. The final technique of examination combines observation with normalized judgment through using power or force to unearth truth. Foucault reveals his famous connection between knowledge and power through these techniques, establishing that the purpose of both is extremely inter-linked. This idea is very important to communication studies. Foucault is noted to be the most influential thinker of the second half of the twentieth century and is also the most highly cited source of this time. His influence and work extends to multiple fields. In the school of communication studies, Foucault’s influence can be found in political, rhetorical, interpersonal and mass communication, communication programs such as public relations and strategy, psycho- and sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, to name a few. Key Passage by Foucault There are many notable quotes by Foucault that are worth reproducing and analyzing. For the purpose of this essay, the following passage (Foucault, 1990) has been selected which is a part of an interview conducted by Didier Eribon in 1981 for a French newspaper called Liberation. Translated by Alan Sheridan, this interview is about the significance of criticism in achieving transformation and progress. A critique is not a matter of saying that things are not right as they are. It is a matter of pointing out on what kinds of assumptions, what kinds of familiar, unchallenged, unconsidered modes of thought the practices that we accept rest. We must free ourselves from the sacralization of the social as the only reality and stop regarding as superfluous something so essential in human life and in humans relations as thought…it is something that is often hidden, but which always animates everyday behavior…Criticism is a matter of flushing out that thought and trying to change it: to show that things are not as self-evident as one believed, to see what is accepted as self-evident will no longer be accepted as such. (pp. 154-155) Foucault clarifies that criticizing something does not mean that one is looking at any apparent or covert faults in it and pinpointing them out; it is not the same as raising one’s voice against what one believes to be wrong. Instead, critique is about acknowledging preconceived notions and unsaid assumptions our thoughts and interpretations are based upon. It is more about asking the question ‘Why must it be like that?” without debating the correctness or the wrongness of the idea itself if not in the context of the unsaid, supporting assumption. Foucault argues the importance of human thought - going to the extent of saying that our thoughts make us human – in everyday life. He says that our thoughts are manifested in our everyday behavior. These thoughts must be used to challenge the unchallenged, to speak the unsaid and question the familiar. Foucault cannot stress enough the necessity of thinking and rethinking all the supposed constants that we take as given; having a vast history of thoughts behind us should be taken as an opportunity to unearth a repository of knowledge that can reshape our present and convert it into a better future. Therefore, critique is a very positive and necessary attribute of everyday life as it discloses those self-defeating assumptions that can be reworked (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2007) for a better future and for change. Foucault’s Sources According to Gutting, one of the most significant influences on Foucault was his French background and grasp of the French approach to history and philosophy. The key influencer from the very beginning was Canguilhem. The philosopher and professor supported him during his doctoral pursuit and also later on in his career. Another source that propelled Foucault’s work was French literature (Gutting), especially the works of Georges Bataille and Maurice Blanchot. Foucault also used first hand experiences and observations as evidence for his works and drivers of his thoughts. One example is his study of the prison which resulted in his book Discipline and Punish. Foucault is also famous for using an archaeological approach in his earlier works – inspired by Nietzsche genealogy – that attempted to look at a broad period in history, along with all the blanks and holes left behind by unreported events, then putting them all together for study. Foucault relied heavily on the understanding of history for interpretation of events. He was an avid reader of all schools of thought; he travelled extensively, giving lectures in different parts of the world. His travels took him to places like Tunisia and Iran during the revolution which affected the way he thought. Influence of Foucault During his time as the Philosophy Department head at the University of Paris, Foucault worked with Alain Badiou and Jacques Rancière (egs.edu, 2012) who later on emerged as respected thinkers in their fields. Foucault challenged the existing methods of dealing with and understanding many issues ranging from knowledge and thought to Man and his everyday behavior, from marginalized groups to human sexuality. Foucault has inspired many new learners and academics; conversely, he has a solid opposition also who refute his opinions on punishment, power and ethics; however, there is no denying Foucault’s unique point of view and contributions. Foucault’s influence spans many fields and areas. Critical social theory is one area that has benefited from the works and ideas of Foucault. Foucault was an avid believer of critique, as mentioned in detail previously; he stressed the importance of criticizing society, norms, cultural practices and expectations as that, he believed, is the only way of transformation. Discourse analysis is another area in communication studies that has taken influence from the works of Foucault, especially as it relates to the manifestation of power. Essay Topics Inspired by Foucault 1. Necessity of Critique Who can critique? How to teach/learn critiquing What are the uses of critique in communication studies? Interpretations for media, culture and society Utilizing criticism to turn it into constructive outcomes 2. Relation between Knowledge and Power How are knowledge and power interlinked? How can one gain knowledge and translate it into power? Abuses of knowledge and power Media, Culture and Society context of knowledge and power 3. Punishment What is effective punishment? Is it possible to define maximum (effective) punishment? How can one ensure learning outcomes? Implications for culture and society Role of media References Dunne, T., Kurki, M. & Smith, S. (2007). International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press Foucault, M (1990). Politics, Philosophy, Culture: Interviews and Other Writings, 1977-1984. L.D. Kritzman (Ed.). New York, NY: Routledge Foucault, M. (1996). Foucault live: (interviews, 1961-1984). S. Lotringer (Ed.) Michgan: AbeBooks Foucault, M. (2012). The Order of Things. New York, NY: Routledge Gutting, G. (2012). "Michel Foucault", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/foucault/ Michel Foucault – Biography (n.d.). In The European Graduate School Library. Retrieved from http://www.egs.edu/library/michel-foucault/biography/ Read More