Philosophical Conversations Public Opinion philosophy.com Junk for code
hegel
"When philosophy paints its grey in grey then has a shape of life grown old. By philosophy's grey in grey it cannot be rejuvenated but only understood. The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk." -- G.W.F. Hegel, 'Preface', Philosophy of Right.
RECENT ENTRIES
SEARCH
ARCHIVES
Library
Links - weblogs
Links - Political Rationalities
Links - Resources: Philosophy
Public Discussion
Resources
Cafe Philosophy
Philosophy Centres
Links - Resources: Other
Links - Web Connections
Other
www.thought-factory.net
'Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainity and agitation distinquish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones ... All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned.' Marx

Foucault, the state, political knowledge, CoAG « Previous | |Next »
July 20, 2006

The passage below is from a lecture given by Kimon Lycos on Foucault's understanding of truth and power in Parrhesia. Entitled Foucault, Freedom and Truth Emergence it explores Foucault's understanding of the nexus of 'truth' and 'power' work in modernity. Lycos says:

In the work just prior to his death his attention had turned to what he called 'technologies of the self', the ways in which since antiquity people have tried to turn themselves into 'ethical subjects'. At the same time he was also concerned with the 'political technology of individuals', the ways in which political knowledge in the modern state is not concerned with how people might be made happier or free or more virtuous, but with how looking after them as living, acting, productive beings can serve as a condition of the strength and survival of the state itself in comparison to other states. The art of government in the modern state, he thought, does not have the happiness of individuals as a goal (as it did in traditional political philosophy); rather, the happiness of individuals has become a requirement for the survival and development of the state itself. This is why, he thinks, the techniques and practices which give concrete form to the new political rationality seem to be able to bear the central paradox of our political reason: the coexistence in a political structure of large destructive mechanisms and institutions oriented towards the care of individual life in as many aspects as possible.

That's pretty right not only in interpreting Foucault but Foucault's grasp and interpretation of the way the state uses political knowledge.

Take CoAG's the national reform agenda and the wayfocus on human capital is linked to boosting productivity, labour market participation and the quality of life. Enhancing the health, educaion and skiills of Australians is not designed to make them happy or increase their happiness--it is to increase the competiiveness of Australia in the world marketplace. Boost GDP makes Australia wealthier and more able to compete.

| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 04:32 PM | | Comments (0)
Comments