I. Post-structuralism
Foucault thought is often associated with post-structuralism. Although he denied his association with it, there are aspects of his thought that are aligned with post-structuralist thinking. Like post-structuralism, he is very critical of concept of a human subject. He is highly critical on the concept of the Cartesian subject. In one of his interviews, he says that the subject “… is not a substance. It is a form, and this form is not primarily or always identical to the self.” Foucault wanted to show “… how the subject constituted itself, in one specific form or another, as a mad or a healthy subject, as a delinquent or nondeliquent subjects, through certain practices that were also games of truth, practices of power, …show more content…
Consequently, Love showed that Foucault is only rejecting one aspect of enlightenment, which is humanism.
III. Foucault and Self-Creation
In his article entitled, Self-Creating Selves: Sartre and Foucault, Phyllis Sutton Morris explored the two types of the claim that human beings create themselves. He contrasted the existentialist notion of self-creation to Sartre with Foucault’s notion of self-formation.
According to Morris, “Jean-Paul Sartre claimed that existence precedes essence; the self is constructed by the individual, not something given by God, nature, or society.” This means that the individual is completely autonomous in the creation of the …show more content…
Contrary to the existential assertion of the free individual, Foucault shows that man is made as a subject. In Discipline and Punish, Foucault showed that there was a shift from a public spectacle form of physical torture to a concealed form of enclosure known as the prison. However, he showed in his work, that there are techniques of which the individual is made a subject. According to him, “Discipline ‘makes’ individuals; it is the specific technique of
Foucault thought is often associated with post-structuralism. Although he denied his association with it, there are aspects of his thought that are aligned with post-structuralist thinking. Like post-structuralism, he is very critical of concept of a human subject. He is highly critical on the concept of the Cartesian subject. In one of his interviews, he says that the subject “… is not a substance. It is a form, and this form is not primarily or always identical to the self.” Foucault wanted to show “… how the subject constituted itself, in one specific form or another, as a mad or a healthy subject, as a delinquent or nondeliquent subjects, through certain practices that were also games of truth, practices of power, …show more content…
Consequently, Love showed that Foucault is only rejecting one aspect of enlightenment, which is humanism.
III. Foucault and Self-Creation
In his article entitled, Self-Creating Selves: Sartre and Foucault, Phyllis Sutton Morris explored the two types of the claim that human beings create themselves. He contrasted the existentialist notion of self-creation to Sartre with Foucault’s notion of self-formation.
According to Morris, “Jean-Paul Sartre claimed that existence precedes essence; the self is constructed by the individual, not something given by God, nature, or society.” This means that the individual is completely autonomous in the creation of the …show more content…
Contrary to the existential assertion of the free individual, Foucault shows that man is made as a subject. In Discipline and Punish, Foucault showed that there was a shift from a public spectacle form of physical torture to a concealed form of enclosure known as the prison. However, he showed in his work, that there are techniques of which the individual is made a subject. According to him, “Discipline ‘makes’ individuals; it is the specific technique of