Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 11:00:08 -0800 (PST) From: sj <jr6670-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: Foucault and Kant I think the Kantian rigour that Bryan C. is trying to invoke is ultimately a false rigour. It fails to take into account numerous receptions of Kantian thinking that may well have been much more important for Foucault than any such or such a "problem." The question for me would be, what *instead* of Kant's system would have informed the motoring or systematiza- tion of Foucault's thought? What in Kant was rejected by Foucault, and for what reasons, is obviously the starting point that has been adopted here. Equally important, though, is which elements of Kant's think- ing were preserved, transformed, or discarded by, say, a thinker such as Husserl, whose version of the transcendental subject seems closer to Foucault, and, to my eyes, infinitely more interesting. I'm also extremely displeased by the equation of Kant with his version of the subject, and with such stock items as the categorical imperative, etc. While notorious and necessary, they are among the very last of Kant's contributions to philosophy, IMO, and should probably be forgotten in this context. I would have to be convinced of the value of preserving each of the moments of the textbook, and to be con- vinced that just such an orientation -- as if no other -- concerns Foucault *at all*. (The textbook also seems to limit very severely the necessity of actually *reading* Kant, as if he were, well, a writer, or a great philosopher, or something. Logodaedalus, or whatever he was.) Would have to be convinced that *Foucault* was even remotely interested, in his maturity, in any of this history of philosophy itself. It just doesn't seem like a useful tool for analyzing his work, and it only appears to divide and "lower the tone" of what should, by rights, be a gripping, modern, and lighthearted list discussion. There was probably a good reason Gilles Deleuze was so interested in Foucault's work, and I would bet it had very little to do with any such an history. Best of luck, simone j. __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
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