From: Natasha V. More(f/k/a/Nancie Clark) (flexeon@primenet.com)
Date: Fri Feb 28 1997 - 21:13:59 MST
Joost de Lyser states:
>'Foucaults histories of madness set out to demonstrate that madness was a
>social desease, whose nature changed in different periods, but which always
>reflected the need for society to find outsiders to punish and imprison, in
>order that the prison of the social order should seem like freedom.'
Foucault offered new concepts that challenged people's assumptions about
prisons, the police, insurance, care of the mentally ill, gay rights, and
welfare.
Also, he offered new concepts for, ideas, creative concept and systems of
thought.
Foucault was influenced by Nietzsche. He explored shifting pattern of
thinking, especially relating to power and self will.
To further this, I'll quote:
"Foucault's thinking developed through three stages. First, in Madness and
Civilization (1960), he traced how, in the Western world, madness—which was
once thought to be divinely inspired—came to be thought of as mental
illness. In this book he attempted to expose the creative force of madness
that Western societies have traditionally repressed. In his second stage he
produced The Order of Things (1966), one of his most important works.
"Foucault's last period was inaugurated by the publication of Discipline and
Punish in 1975. It ostensibly questions whether imprisonment is a more
humane punishment than torture, but it is more generally concerned with the
way society orders individuals by training their bodies; for example, basic
training may discipline and prepare a person to be a soldier. Foucault's
last three books—History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction (1976), The
Use of Pleasure (1984), and The Care of the Self (1984)—are parts of an
unfinished history of sexuality. In these books, Foucault follows the stages
by which people in Western societies have come to understand themselves as
sexual beings, and relates the sexual self-concept to the moral and ethical
life of the individual.
"In all the books of his last period Foucault seeks to show that Western
society has developed a new kind of power he calls bio-power—that is, a new
system of control that traditional concepts of authority are unable to
understand and criticize. Rather than being repressive, this new power
enhances life.
I'm not an expert on Foucault, however I appreciate his use of logic in
creative thinking. Ideas, creative concepts and systems of thought.
Extropic thinking?
Natasha Vita More [f/k/a Nancie Clark]
http://www.primenet.com/~flexeon
Extropic Art Manifesto!: http://www.primenet.com/~flexeon/extropic.htm
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