Comments on: Pomo Periscope XIX: Leiter on Foucault

By: fabiorojas

fabiorojas — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:17:09 +0000

Rafe:

The abstract of the paper is actually very clear, if not the body text. Foucault is all about how people internalize values and subjugate themselves. E.g., the student in the class internalized the authority of the teacher, rather than the teacher having to beat the student into submission. The worker internalizes the hierarchy of the firm, etc.

In his writings, Foucault argues that the social sciences have been a key tool for this self-subjugation. Social sciences generate ideas and knowledge that contribute to people’s subjugation. For example, scholars may generate ideas about low status people, which are then the basis of oppression. Leiter is pointing out in the passage that Foucault’s suspcision of the social sciences is misplaced and that Foucault does nothing to justify his dismissal of the social sciences.

By: Rafe Champion

Rafe Champion — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:23:14 +0000

Leiter in his less dramatic role as an intellectual is a kind of shooting star of avant garde thinking and a prolific generator of leftwing analysis of every issue under the sun, also a ranking system of all the philosophy departments in the world.

Can someone do a plain English translation of the para that Nicolai quoted?

By: Dick Langlois

Dick Langlois — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:38:12 +0000

There is a post-modernist twist to this, of course, since, as everyone knows, Leiter works for the CIA.