...and, for matt
The history of "A conversation about the work of Michel Foucault"
>>the beautiful possibilities filtering through
Stage setting:
The following sentence will give us the content of the argument to follow the following sentence. The content of the 'argument' to follow, is as follows:
- 1. Miscellaneous Identity #1 holds that Foucault's historical analyses (Madness and Civilization, Discipline and Punish, etc.) are sorts of cautionary tales/a call to arms. They are, at the very least indicative of a greater liberatory project.
- 2. Miscellaneous Identity #2 holds that this is not so; that, in fact, Foucault's analyses give no indication of such a liberatory project and that to ascribe such a project to these analyses is to superimpose one's one political agenda upon them. As an example of such a superimposition, Miscellaneous Identity #2 cites Charles Taylor's interpretation of Foucault's work.
- 3. It seems that, in the 'end' Miscellaneous Identity #1 may have made a stronger case, especially given later remarks made to a third party, to whom this "History" is, in itself, 'addressed' (the use of the term 'addressed' is here meant to be ironic, as the author (who?) is somewhat aware/cautious of what it might 'entail' (if anything)).
...and, for matt: here is a prolonged argument about
Foucault that i had with cletus the foetus from e2
one thing i learned from this is that arguing made me
realise that i know a fair bit about foucault..or at least
i can talk like i do to someone that knows something about
him....
heres the whole conversation (in its entirety, as "whole" would indicate):
but first he said to you much later after first
(r) Cletus the Foetus says 1) Find the interview. Get it through the interlibrary loan system of your school's library. 2) You say that my position is that "does see the possibility of liberation by resistance to power." This is not what I said at all. What the
(r) Cletus the Foetus says heck does "resistance to power" mean, when all resistance *is* power? You're confusing power (ie., the capacity to get someone do what you want them to do) with domination (ie., the capacity to *force* someone do what you want them to do)
(r) Cletus the Foetus says Domination is one form of power, but not the only one. Love is power, for example. Furthermore, in the context of the Anti-Oedipus preface, he's not talking about the "individual" as a being, but the individual as a "person" with
(r) Cletus the Foetus says distinct "feelings" that are part of a regulated world. This world is constituted by power (NOT just domination -- it also involves emotional coaxing, convincing, etc. on top of threat and fraud). The "multiplication" and "displacement"
(r) Cletus the Foetus says psychological self-transformations, part of a new ethic of "care for self" that F. envisions. They are forms of resistance against power, but they ARE power as well -- we can't "oppose" power, we can only oppose UNDESIRABLE outside power
(r) Cletus the Foetus says with our own, internal, care-of-self power. 3) What are you saying about the preface? That it doesn't provide any insight to Foucault because he'd lie about the context of his own work as a favour to friends who are talking about
(r) Cletus the Foetus says completely different from his own work? (And no, I don't think he was getting paid, and in any event even if he was, remember that Deleuze would later go on to write a book about Foucault, so I don't think it's unreasonable to say there
(r) Cletus the Foetus says is a certain copacetic vibe there.)
(r) Cletus the Foetus says 4) Find the interview.
(r) Cletus the Foetus says What did *you* take Foucault's overall theme as being? Renunciation to the state?
To be fair to my friend Frankdeluxe, I don't think he would ascribe any sort of overall theme to Michel FoucaultFoucault...
- MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Howdy.
- Miscellaneous Identity #2: hey
so yeah,
what kind of stuff you read?
and: postgraduate?
so you are doing graduate stuff now then?
- MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yeah, see, simply going by what I could get from what you were saying about JD., I must say that I don't like the sounds of graphocentrism any more than I like the sounds of phonocentrism. What stuff do I read? Well, I'm a big Nietzsche fan, and I'm getting all into Deleuze right now. (Plus I'm teaching myself economics.)
- Miscellaneous Identity #2: yeah
he doesnt really endorse it as much as i lead on
but i havent read the book right now, so i just made it somewhat facile. its more like he is saying graphocentrismis the trend now (ie 1960's 1970's)
deconstruction is not grapho or phono centric though
which is what he is more about
- MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: I'm in my last semester of my undergrad degree (BA), with a double major in phil. and english (since my school doesn't offer an honours program in philosophy. Well that might be ok then. See, in addition to Nietzsche and Deleuze, I'm also totally all about Chuang tzu. And William Blake.
- Miscellaneous Identity #2: cool
im in my third year of a combined honours in phil and contemporary studies sort of interdisciplinary deal
what school do you go to?
hows Deleuze anyway?
i read a few of his joints, but i dont know shit about psychoanalysis
so it mostly went over my head
hes got a good essay on lewis caroll though
- MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: But see, with Chuang tzu, and Lao tzu even moreso, it's about learning to use language without getting tangled up in the idea that there's an essential connection between language and experience. And for the Taoists, experience is the primary focus.
Commentary:
Arguing about nothing is never arguing about nothing. Even when I seem to be holding no position whatsoever, the act of arguing still holds some intentional sort of content. I'm still trying to reach some sort of goal. What is the goal in this case? What will happen in the end? Where will the conversation go? If I want to talk to someone about "academic"-esque topics (re: Michel Foucault) does that mean an argument of sorts will inevitably ensue? It seems to be almost always the case, even if I hold a lot of the same opinions as the other person, I will, in the "heat" of discussion flip flop, even arguing for something I see as 'incorrect'. The thing is, when I argue a position, I "believe" it as much as I ever believe in anything. The entire paragraph leading up to this sentence is poorly written, and not at all something I would agree to. I argue with people for no reason, and for the reason that it helps me work out things about subjects that I didn't realise I knew. I guess a socio-biologist would say that it was a survival instinct. My instinct to survive usually doesn't seem terribly automatic. I'm just a walking courtship display. I reject my work, I reject your work.
Argumentisargument.
the great soup kitchen explosion of ought four
Miscellaneous Identity #2: yeah
a lot of eastern shit seems to be pretty phenomenology-y
im more into language itself
:)
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: I go to the University of Prince Edward Island.
Deleuze is cool -- "Capitalism and Schizophrenia" is pretty heavy, though you can almost track where it is Deleuze is speaking and where Guattari. Though it's never quite concrete, and besides it's irrelevant. They have a chapter on the sociology of black magic and lycanthropy, which turns into music theory halfway through.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: haha!!!
i go to dal/kings
i was looking into pei's non-existent grad programmes thats funny that we are so close
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: No shit! I've got friends who're over there. Wow, it's a small world.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: quite.
thats funny.
yeah i read capitalism and schizophrenia. i just dont know much about freud/lacan et al
so it wasnt that exciting to me
i like their literary criticism stuff though
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: It's only half about the psychoanalysis, though. It's also half about economics; it's basically a revision of the theory of desire, in a radical way that alters the perspectives of both sciences.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: so how do i get rid of these square brackets?
&91?
((Commentary))
Textual Note regarding the striking through (striking through) of typographical laughter in the conversation. This decision (incision)/revision has been made for the following reasons:
- One
- Time
- Too
- Many
- We
- Fled
- For
- Their
- Lies
For further information on this curious editorial procedure, see *'s.
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: [ and ]
See, in economics, desire was always characterized negatively. Desire was want, as in, you wanted something you didn't have and you acted to make the desire go away. In psychology, desire was something that was teased out by circumstances, and then repressed back against itself, because oh golly gee, it's just all too titillating. Well, you've read Foucault, right?
* (0.015): Laughter is that disease peculiar to the human condition. Laughter is (or has become) that paralysing fear of one's own death.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: so i put one after and one before then?
thats annoying.
haha yeah, i just dont get all the father/son circumcision etc. metaphors that much
ive been reading some lacan lately for a class so im getting it a bit more
but its not really my thing i guess
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yarp, [ is [ and ] is ]. (For reference, \ is | -- ceci n'est pas une pipe.) Lacan is another one of those dudes who's just too far out for me.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: haha>/so>
he's alright
i dont really like him that much
i dont know, psychoanalysis is funny to me
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: But Deleuze and Guattari totally revised the theory of desire, using the idea of a Body without Organs as a controlling metaphor. Foucault's as anti-psychoanalytic as Deleuze & Guattari. Their stuff represents criticism of the methods, perspective and content of psychoanalysis.
* (0.0175): Coins are all flipped the same way. (There is no advice here, nor has there been or will there "be")
Miscellaneous Identity #2: yeah i know, its just that its hard to understand critiques of something you dont know anything about :)
hahaa
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yeah I bet. That's probably one of the main reasons I couldn't quite get my head around Derrida.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: yeah, it just takes some getting used to.
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Guess so. I was always paranoid that there was something substantial that I was missing, that if I knew it I might totally revise everything I thought about everything, but since I didn't know it I'd live forever in ignorance. Glad to know that isn't quite the case.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: haha
well
i wouldnt say that
derrida does have a lot of importnat things to say
my wu's are actually pretty crappy glosses of a lot of what he says
you really do have to read what he says to get most of it
he's big into the 'performance' of writing/reading
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: See, I reckon that with stuff like what he's doing, a great deal will get lost in the translation. And my french isn't as good as I wish it were. But on the other hand, I can't entirely relate to the idea that we're becoming any less of a verbal-oriented culture, or a verbal-oriented philosophical tradition.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: yeah, he is pretty finicky with his translator's though
and a lot of the hard parts are given in both languages (doesnt help me because i dont speak french)
that is true though
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: (Hey, did you know Derrida is a noder? Check out the user jderrida.)
************************************************************
"BREAK!" said in break-dancing 'call to arms' voice
2002.02.10 16.37
forgetting/amnesis/anamnesis/remembering
well i forgot about this journal
in some ways
but it was in the back of my mind
the advent of everything has not yet destroyed my "need"
(not really a need, more of a benefit caused by) of this journal
everything is moderated, but this isn't moderated
its just what i want to write
so i still have use for this
fitting everything nicely into (marxist)/economist terms
right there
"use"
or why i think i like him
exploding the notion of use/disuse
the productivity of waste?
how can political economy deal with waste/art
etc.
nothing is a closed or open system
nothing is anything
Miscellaneous Identity #2: hahaha
that would be funny if it was him
i think e2 is ridiculously derridean
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: I was always skeptical of jderrida -- I mean, look through his w/u's. There'll be these incredibly cunning "impersonations," and then there'll be some crazy piece on American indiepop.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: haha
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Seriously had me messed up for a while. I kept /msg'ing the dude, trying to extract hints as to the true nature of his game. Was it Derrida, an old man with bizarre musical tastes? Was it Derrida, with his grandson using the same account? Or was it an amazing impersonation? I needed answers.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: im surprised you are into the sort of thing you are, upei seems like a very analytical philosophy department (like the rest of north america) or...it was just a nerd like me that chose a bad user name.
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yeah, Neb Kujundzic, the chair, is from Croatia, so he's well-versed in the Slavic logical tradition (they all had to be, it was perceived as the least subversive form of philosophy), and Malcolm Murray is a contractarian. Tony Couture is an old-school (Godwinian) anarchist with Habermas-sympathies (total reformed Heideggerian). The new guy, Louis Groarke, he's an Aristotelean (as far as I can tell). I'm just a free-thinker. I read for myself, and I won't let my professors tell me I'm wrong when I know I'm not.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: im always wrong
i rarely realise it though
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Hah. Unpositive attitude dude. I've been reading Nietzsche since high school, and none of the other profs read much of him, so I'm used to having a niche of knowledge. I just expanded from there.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: well its positive in that it doesnt bother me that im wrong
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yeah, that's good. Been there too. So what are you going in to? Canada's got a strong tradition of media studies, and as you probably have the dubious honour of being one of the few people in the country who can extract something useful out of it, you could probably do a lot of creative stuff there. (Sorry, out of Derrida.)
* (1.00000034): I will relent. I'm convinced by (his)(its?) argument. The reason I've struck all the laughter from this "record" (awful contractual) is because of laughters explosive disregard for the argumentative style. What can laughter mean in a debate? Doesn't it automatically render any appeal to rationality absurd? Or at least, absurd within the range of the laughter itself. Importantly: the range (band-breadth) of this laughter multiplies itself out of all control if it finds a 'permanent' home (dwelling) on the internet. Thus: if I leave the traces of this once-original laughter to remain here, am I not already invalidating the possible seriousness of the questions that may (or may not)(more likely the 'may not') follow. More on this later.... back to the breaks.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: i dont know
waste my life doing silliness
:)
some grad school some where
probably
western
i dont know
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Blah. See, I couldn't handle it if I thought that what I was doing wasn't useful in a larger context. Like, media studies in general I can understand. But these scholars who devote their entire lives to minutiae -- it drives me crazy just thinking about it.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: im not really into helping my fellow man
so it doesnt bother me so much
nothing changes
live/die
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: See, I'm a closet altruist. I present the veneer of disinterested egoism (it's a religious thing for me) but deep down inside I'm a total pathetic softy. It's kinda embarrassing.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: that being said: its not like i have contempt for philosophy
i think its useful for something, me etc.
i like other people somewhat
i just dont think there is anything to do that will "save humanity"
and i think thinking in terms like that is pretty dangerous a lot of the time.
so i just do my small things
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: I'm on this whole "World Peace" kick lately. I've been reading too much William Blake lately, maybe.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: hhaha
people fight
that is.
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: I used to believe that there would always be war and destructuion and hate and conflict and fighting, but then I realized that, at least, there's no longer any need for actual WAR. But of course, if I ever said as much I'd be laughed at. Because I'd be an idiot to maintain such a thing. Unless I was a prophet, in which case *most* people would laugh at me but *some* people would begin the infection-like spread of my credibility.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: yeah
maybe
but:
if there is no war, then there will be other things you read foucualt...
and: just because there is no NEED for war (has there ever been?) doesnt mean it wont happen
society is not fundamentally economic..
YO
haha
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: If there's no war, there will be insane boredom and psychological cruelty. There will also still be crime. But I don't think Foucault's point is quite so pessimistic. I mean, there was a point to his writing.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: not according to him
fuck charles taylor
:)
i dont see liberation in foucault
haha
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: 1) Charles Taylor promoted kindness to workers. Happy workers are more efficient. Why do you think the Roman Empire ended slavery?
2) Yes, fuck charles taylor.
3) There's liberation written all over Foucault! "Where there's the exercise of power, there's the possibility of resistance." Always.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: resistance=power
there is no outside of power... at least for foucault all relations are power relations
and i didnt mean fuck charles taylor entirely, just him pretending that his views are found in foucault
i like his other stuff
hes a good writer
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Resistance is power, yes. But power over self is different from power over others. In fact, it's more powerful. That's why he became interested in the technologies of the self later on -- these are techniques for becoming a better person, society be damned. Ahem, sorry, I had the wrong Taylor. I don't even know who Charles Taylor is.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: ...
well considering his views on the subject
i don't think he would EVER say that one could become a "better" person
and power isnt something that one can have, power constitutes subjects, and subjects are its vehicle
its not like you can hoard it
and then you will be happy
...
or thats what i get anyway
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: No, I totally disagree. You can become a better person by your own standards. He would never say that there was some abstract "betterness" you could discover and strive for. But there's such a thing as art. (Which is different from pretention.) Power is something you exercise. When you resist, you exercise power. When you transform, you exercise power. When you create, and when you destroy. Nonetheless, some forms of power are good for life, and some are bad.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: well
he specifically says that our own standards are entirely limited by the epistemic system we are currently in, which you cant escape...
so its hard to see how you could become better if the notion of better is limited by outside standards... not for foucault
foucault never says that forms of power are good or bad
he just says they are
you may disagree
but foucault doesnt say that
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: But that's only for abstract, metaphysical standards. If you believe in some "Good" (like G.E. Moore). What I see in Foucault, and this is his inheritance from Nietzsche, is the emphasis on the aesthetic. No, he never says that forms of power are good or bad. But you've got to read between the lines. His theses are almost always insinuations. It's all about *personal* standards, for oneself, that have little or nothing to do with what other people think.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: no its not just abstract:
foucault says that all categories of good and bad are constructed through power relations, which we cant escape
if our categories of good and bad are constitued through and by power relations
then how can we be a better person?
personal standards ARE power relations, but not of your own creation...
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: But you can have a self-relationship. An identity. Power over oneself.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: well its hard to read between the lines when he states PRECISELY and repeatedly the obvious
no you can't
because any self-relation is constituted by external power relations
ie: the self is historical
we can only relate to ourselves in specific, historical ways
which are enforced on us by the llarger epistemic regime
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: No, nothing is "constituted" by the outside relations. It's strategic, not mechanical. There are concrete ways in which people are personally repressed by others. It's always specific people being mean to each other in specific ways. When you recognize those, that's the beginning of empowerment. That's the whole point of Foucault's career.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: it was metaphorical
i just mean that any standards you have are entirely dictated by what standards the epistemic regime you are in allows
you can only relate to yourself in certain historical ways, which are dictated not by your self, because that self is dictated by your time!
i cant believe you think that you can be "empowered" in foucault! that seems to me to be the exact OPPOSITE of what he says!!
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yes, of course. But what it all boils down to is that there are only two basic epistemological systems; Either you adhere slavishly to what other people tell you, or you rely on yourself. The technologies of the self are all about the latter. Aesthetic standards are all about the latter. Do you know anything about Foucault's life, personally?
Miscellaneous Identity #2: no
there arent
only two epistemological systems
ack
nevermind
we obviously disagree on our readings of him...i cant see how you could possibly say that
and yes i do, but im not going to fall into the trap of relating a biography to a persons work
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: No, I think it's totally important. (Especially given his Nietzschean bent -- I think he'd want us to understand his writings in the context of his life.)
Miscellaneous Identity #2: haha
read "what is an author" and tell me that again.
foucault is not nietzsche
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: No, he's not. "What is an Author?" is not quite the same thing as what I want to do.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: well, it disintigrates any notion that foucault would have wanted us to relate his life to his work, ill say that much.
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: "WiaA?" is about the relationship of the author, qua "authority," to the specific content of the words. But what I'm talking about is understanding the spirit in which they were uttered.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: note how much he talks about himself in his interviews/articles/books
what is an author is about disintegrating the notion that the author has privilged access to the meaning of his words
(ie: like derrida) he would disagree that the "spriit" is important
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Fine then, but by those standards even my reading isn't wrong. Mine is just more interesting, and more hopeful.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: ...?
how so?
thats not to say that IN THE TEXT there isnt anything
more interesting to you
and more hopeful but less plausible
im just saying foucault does not want us to look at him as the privileged viewpoint on his own work
he doesnt "own" the meaning in his work
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Not less plausible at all. His whole corpus generally focuses on one theme: How the individual can resist the general tide of a society in which people have the impunity to be complete dickheads to one another. His genealogical works focus on the society. His "technologies of the self" works focus on the individual within that society. Together they form a hopeful picture.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: it is less plausible
in that all his texts either dont say what you are saying they say, or directly deny it
his TEXTS not him
as an author
they arent like that at all, though it might be nice for people like you and charles taylor to look at them and come up with that ON YOUR OWN
but that isnt in foucault
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Tell you what: Why don't you find a point where he directly denies something that I've said.Editorial incision("People like me?" This is becoming not fun anymore.)Editorial decision
**cut**MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: ("People like me?" This is becoming not fun anymore.)***
What happened here?
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ratiocination
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* (21.3469) The following thirteen phrases contributed to (I would say 'led up to' but that would be to teleological for my anti-Hegelianism) this "upset" in the regular process of semi-rational argumentation:
- 1. Well, you've read Foucault, right?
- 2. ... im surprised you are into the sort of thing you are
- 3. Unpositive attitude dude
- 4. i dont know waste my life doing silliness :) some grad school some where probably western i dont know
- 8. There's liberation written all over Foucault! "Where there's the exercise of power, there's the possibility of resistance." Always.
- 9. ... i dont think he would EVER say ...
- 10. No, nothing is "constituted ...
- 12. Mine is just more interesting, and more hopeful.
- 13. Tell you what: Why don't you ...
Miscellaneous Identity #2: if i had all of foucault's books in my room
and NOT at a library
maybe i would
hahahaha
people like you just means people who are socially hopeful
its not an epithet
i agree with you
i just disagree that foucault says any of it
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Seriously, look at what he's written. Discipline and Punish is about how we treat prisoners horribly. Why would he write a book like that?History of Sexuality, volume one, is about how the Victorians came up with a system whereby they pinned down for themselves *exactly* what kinds of perverts they were, and then used that to mount an attack on anyone who wouldn't play the game.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: who knows?
maybe as an example as to how we should treat them or how we shouldnt? we cant say that he tells us either way!
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: An example of how we *should* treat them? I really don't think that's what the book is about.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: i just think you are ascribing a message to him that isnt there
thats all
in the texts
think what you want about him
its about how prisoners WERE treated
he doesnt assign value to it
its nice to look at it that way though
dont you get my point?
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Hist of Sex volumes 2 & 3 are all about how the ancient Greeks and Romans (some of them, anyway) thought of ethics in terms of taking care of oneself, considering things in terms of personal regimen and taste. I think he clearly thinks this is a better way of thinking about matters of "the good." No, it's only ostensively about how prisoners "were" treated. It's really about how prisoners *came to be treated* as they are today. And I think he assigns value in his insinuations. Read his debate with Chomsky.
* (self technologizing; rap referent; 0.0110): well, painted today STOP and realised that i dont really enjoy painting pieces that much anymore STOPN or with certain people STOPO i dont know STOPT i just didnt like the atmosphere today STOPA it was too antagonistic STOPL it felt like a prolonged attack or something STOPK whatever STOPI my style needs work too STOPN i was generally displeased with the whole affair STOPS i also missed me some XXXXXXXXXXX STOP 1 its funny sometimes i dont see her for two days or whatever, and now its only been a day, and it feels longer STOPR bah STOP she'll have fun STOPR murderin fools etc. STOPA mackin suckas to get free (non-roofinated) drizinks or some shizzle, you know how we do in the 902 FULLSTOPH, REVERSE.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: its the "its really" thats the problem
read what is an author
see him debunk the "its really"
that is a good way to look at it
but its not in the book!
thats all im saying
ive read/seen it
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: No, I don't think that's what "WiaA?" is about. Or if it is, it was a lapse on his part. Because if that's how he really wanted his books to be treated, there would never have been a point to writing them in the first place. If he really didn't care about sides, he would have answered those questions in the debate *completely* differently.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: hahaha
see what you are doing?
a lapse on his part
you are assigning your own views to foucault!
its good to use his arguments for your puproses but admit you are doing it
HE did care, his books do NOT give us his political opinion!
hes saying that he doesnt give us the point to writing
his works just are
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Yes fine. But his books are useless if not for use with my opinion! And he knew it. And he liked it.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: HAHAHAA
i suppose.
that was my argument though
so i win!
muahah
haha
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Kinda.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: ?!?!
oh come on!
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: But do you see my point? Although it's true that his works exist, divorced from him forever, for use as raw materials for our own social changes, it's clear he had particular sides and social issues in mind when he wrote the books. And it comes out in the books.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: i always saw yer point
but i disagree that it comes out in his books at all.
but: there are other uses for his books, ones that would disagree with your politics, i think.
although i agree with your politics
does that make sense?
im a bad arguer
haha
"Using the 'contest' as a model for life can be dangerous in some ways. For instance: in contests, there are opposing sides. If you are treating your own life as a contest, you are either opposing/competing with yourself, or competing with the world/those around you. So, in order to achieve your goal (in order to 'beat' your opponent) you must separate them from yourself. This means either separating yourself from yourself (alienating yourself) or separating yourself from your community/friends/family/coworkers or your environment."
*****
***** (349.012311): This passage is struck through for its remarkable (functional) similarities to the meme "haha". For more on this editorial procedure, see the sentence immeditaley following this one. Sentence: The above 'quotation' (cited here surreptitiously) has been deemed humours due to the presence of the word "beat". For more on this editorial procedure, see the sentence immediately preceding this one.
Back to the (serious) topic at (hands) hand...
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Perhaps. I suppose someone could plan out a whole engine of destruction and misery using his books as guidelines.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: exactly
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: But I still see those books as empowering.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: i like that
engine of destruction
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Because if you know what you're up against, there is the possibility of resistance.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: i dont wanna argue anymore :)
haha
so what grad school you plannin on going to?
or do you know?
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: (I've been reading a lot of Blake lately, that's a very Blakean phrase. Or maybe he'd say "Satanic millwheels.")
Miscellaneous Identity #2: haha its funny
my thing about author in foucault is terrible and not at all what i was saying
but its from a paper from like 3 semesters ago
im glad you didnt call me on it
hahaha
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Hm? Which thing was that?
Miscellaneous Identity #2: a writeup on e2
its terrible
i shouldnt have put it on there
im gonna re-write a nice one
i just havent done it yet
i dont want it destroyed cause im gonna redo
it
w/ the same title anyway
so i might as well just edit it
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Oh, for grad schools, I dunno. I'm graduating this semester, and then I'm taking a year off to prevent burn-out. Then in the fall I'm going to shop around. I've got a really strong application (or so my profs are all telling me) so I'm just going to have to see who gives me financial assistance.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: nice
i dont know what im gonna look like
i want to go to the centre for theory and criticism at western
pretty snotty but what im into
the other names sound familiar
Miscellaneous Identity #2: hahah
notedxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
...and none that are important enough anymore that come to mind...
om
com
.com
2.com
g2.com
ng2.com
ing2.com
hing2.com
thing2.com
ything2.com
rything2.com
erything2.com
verything2.com
everything2.com
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w.everything2.com
ww.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com Everything began with OM
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
www.everything2.com
ww.everything2.com
w.everything2.com
.everything2.com
everything2.com
verything2.com
erything2.com
rything2.com
ything2.com
thing2.com
hing2.com
ing2.com
ng2.com
g2.com
2.com
.com
com
om
matt is so excited
"its the only thing ive ever been excited about on the internet"
im pretty excited about it now too
internet nerdery factor: +10
agility: -10
even stephen?
2002.02.05 17.40
separate existences, at no cost.
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: Well I gotta take off. Sleep beckons. It's been fun nerding out with ya; I rarely get a chance to butt heads with anyone who's actually *read* Foucault.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: hahah
have a good night
that was a hilariously vehement argument
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: (Oh and by the way: If there are more than two epistemological theories-- authority and criticism -- then why do you say in Feminist standpoint epistemology that there are only two epistemologies -- objectivism and subjectivism?) heh heh -- that's just my parting shot. I'm far too tired to take it seriously, so you shouldn't either.
Miscellaneous Identity #2: not epistemological THEORIES
epistemic regimes
ie: historical periods when certain kinds of claims count as knowledge
MISCELLANEOUS IDENTITY #1: G'night man. If you ever need any noding help, just /msg ctf (all lower case).
Is this the untimely end of ....
Is this the untimely end of We
Is this the untimely end of ....
Is this the untimely end of Off
Is this the untimely end of ....
Is this the untimely end of Last
Is this the untimely end of ....
Is this the untimely end of He
Is this the untimely end of ....
Is this the untimely end of What
Is this the untimely end of ....
Is this the untimely end of Was
wasnotwas? terrible, just terrible!
So how do you feel about the whole thing?
I don't know what to think
2002.02.13 21.21
workshop it guy
the reason why i love her
well there is no 'reason
this is something though:
she is her own universe
her nuances are described by their own laws
down to every last detail, every pixelated speck of her she is herself
thats 'why' i love her
as if why plays a part.
2002.02.11 08.19
bleah
*****************************
*****************************
*****************************
dot com dot com
the track is speeding up
im a sea anemone
sucking up meaning
and spittin' 'er out
except i have no ocean to absorb my offal
it just floats in front of me in dead space
because i dont advertise
like disco stu
the poetics of space huh
yeah i think thats a good idea
designing erotic cities
2002.02.10 20.01
If we kill him YOU'RE burying him this time.
Nothing fits into Marx
'Nothing' does not fit into Marx
re: Georges Bataille
2002.02.05 20.16
everything twice?
im overwhelmed at the prospect of this thing
it may prove to be an interesting endeavour
what name to choose
thats key
im not sure if i like this new name: bertolt brecht
or if i should go with the classic cabin favour
time will tell
while im waiting for life to happen
talkin' bout: video killed the radio star
pictures attacking sounds
pixels versus decibels
2002.02.05 19.20
subject: (optional, for use on longer entries)////whistling.////wittgenstein could whistle symphonies...////
BREAK
i cant even write a decent journal////yet, im still the most important person in the world.////odd how that works.////morewriting////and now this is the easiest way////i like, and always take, easy ways////because they are easy////
BREAK
and thats what i like.////new game: relate words based on their appearance and on their meaning ease case cases bases basis basic basin bad sin adam apple computer binary trinary urinary tract tractatus wittgenstein beer stein ben stein
BREAK
stone tone tome tomb womb birth mirth thats enough for now getting my association on associations: american medical associationi would like it if there were big medical conspiracies
BREAK
like if 'they' had the cure for cancer but were keeping it under wraps or something what reason would they have for that one? maybe worried about paying for the elderly? im not sure but it would be exciting........dot.
and we could all use excitement/when i say "i would like" i invariably mean "it would be interesting" or "amusing"/my default state of existence is amusement/im still a little worried about this whole 'emotionless mass of me' business
but not too much/because that would be out of character
and if there's one thing i am, its in character/all the time, every day/ready for new lines at the drop of a hat
its almost like im not even acting/im THAT good.
for some reason the idea that mimes can be philosophically important is at once attractive to me, and ridiculous
i like that shit yo.
mimetic representation and so forth
mallarme
dont play
etc.
i wish english had accents like other languages
it would be more compelling.
the desert/edmond jabes/t.e. lawrence/dune
i think the desert makes me feel more like a person than anything else
i wonder if i actually went to the desert if i would like it or not
i think i would, mostly at night.
i can enumerate who i consider my friends
re: guarding
hey
i just realised: Matt's journal is like his soapbox
what a delusional motherfucker
like:
1. Anyone will be reading his journal
2. The people that might be reading it would not understand Kant.
Venn Diagrams
geez
he should just devolve into useless rhetoric like me
that would be more amusing for me
doesnt he know that i am the centre of the universe yet
bassline shooting up my spin
e
2002.02.05 17.29
a treatise on the very idea of a universal human right
its a good IDEA to have laws about what all people should have
but the pretension that these are some fundamental right is ridiculous
no one has a right to anything
no one deserves anything
the sooner we realise that the something
i get a kick out of people saying that education is a fundamental human right
how fucking ridiculous is that
lets rephrase it:
in the particular western tradition a particular form of
education is a FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN (not a particularised western) right
come on.
who are we kidding.
fuck education anyway.
2002.04.07 at 07:18 Conversationalist Alpha says Well, I'd like to see this node before you actually submit it....
2002.04.07 at 16:38 Conversationalist Alpha says My viewer is telling me that your scratchpad isn't publicly shared. Make sure the "private" checkbox is unchecked.
2002.04.07 at 16:50 Conversationalist Alpha says That looks fun. (I love Commentary #2). Just a note: When I said "Yarp" I was explaining the HTML entity codes for squ. brackets and pipes -- those didn't format properly, you're going to have to put in [ where I said [ and
2002.04.07 at 16:50 Conversationalist Alpha says Oh well, you see where I"m going.
2002.04.07 at 16:52 Conversationalist Alpha says "Walking courtship display" -- nice. Incidentally, I've been zenning on better articulating my arguments for considering texts in the context of the author's life, if'n yer innerestid.
2002.04.07 at 16:53 Conversationalist Alpha says (Although it's been about a year since I've read "What is an Author?" I don't think my argument is un-Foucauldian, either.)
2002.04.07 at 17:00 Conversationalist Alpha says I just think that the distinction between "writing" and "life" is arbitrary when considering a philosopher for whom writing was an event and life was a creation. Relating writing to life is relating a part of a work of art to the whole
2002.04.07 at 17:01 Conversationalist Alpha says (even if that part is also a whole of its own)
2002.04.07 at 17:01 Conversationalist Alpha says Not "writing" vs. "life," but writing/event plus life/creation.
2002.04.07 at 17:02 Conversationalist Alpha says Thanks -- it was the most intense academic experience I've ever had. Makes me extremely nervous about my Master's stuff.
2002.04.07 at 17:14 Conversationalist Alpha says No way! Nietzsche's all about liberation too. ;) (By the way, my "miscellaneous identity" is completely transparent. I dunno if I mind, but it doesn't ring right.)
2002.04.07 at 17:20 Conversationalist Alpha says I dunno, I guess I think of D&P, Madness & Civ., Hist of Sex., etc., to be like calls to arms -- they seem just like anatomies of the engines of oppression, but they're also exhortations behind that.
2002.04.07 at 17:22 Conversationalist Alpha says Did you ever hear that story about Foucault taking a trip and laughing so hard on the plane that he pissed his pants, and had to buy new ones at the destination airport?
2002.04.07 at 17:26 Conversationalist Alpha says They could *use* them differently, of course. But that would be using the enemies own battle plans against him, not discovering him to be a partner in crime.
2002.04.07 at 18:24 Conversationalist Alpha says Don't know. Probably something that wouldn't seem half as funny to anyone who wasn't there at the time (ain't it always the way)!
2002.04.07 at 18:25 Conversationalist Alpha says I think the difference between me and the evil genius is that I didn't just *decide* to like Foucault (I never do that -- there are so many philosophers I wish I could read into more, if I were the type to read into things). Rather, I
2002.04.07 at 18:26 Conversationalist Alpha says came to these conclusions by situating the texts, which I grant are wholes and events and not inherently tied to anything other than themselves, to the greater sequence of creation-events (Foucault's life) of which they are parts. (They
2002.04.07 at 18:27 Conversationalist Alpha says may be wholes, but they are also parts; to say that they should be treated as wholes, as Foucault says, does not mean that they can't *also* be treated as parts, as Nietzsche says.)
2002.04.07 at 18:34 Conversationalist Alpha says Depends on what you mean by "liberal agenda." (He referred to himself once, with his tongue in his cheek, as a "crypto-Marxist.") Remember his interest in the Stoics and in "technologies of self" in general -- the liberation I'm thinking
2002.04.07 at 18:35 Conversationalist Alpha says thinking about isn't "political" liberation (exclusively) as distinguished from "personal" or "spiritual" liberation, attached to particular political forms. I'm thinking of a general revolution which begins in the consciousness.
2002.04.07 at 18:44 Conversationalist Alpha says So what you are saying is that in the whole oeuvre of Foucault's work, nothing points to the exhortation to liberate oneself? (Re: crypto-marxist, maybe; I got the impression that he was ironically taking that label, whether he or someone
2002.04.07 at 18:44 Conversationalist Alpha says else thought of it.)
2002.04.07 at 18:51 Conversationalist Alpha says I'm not "privileging" my own reading -- I believe that other interpretations aren't supported by evidence.
2002.04.07 at 18:51 Conversationalist Alpha says They neglect details of the whole (Foucault's life/work/creation) that I have taken pains to include.
2002.04.07 at 18:52 Conversationalist Alpha says Look, quite frankly, I've had this same criticism of my Blake paper (that I'm privileging my own reading). I really don't understand what that means. That I shouldn't believe what I'm saying?
2002.04.07 at 18:52 Conversationalist Alpha says Maybe you can explain this to me. What am I reading in here that isn't there? or what am I ignoring?
2002.04.07 at 18:57 Conversationalist Alpha says 1) If I had to explicitly preface every statement with "This is my interpretation" I'd bore myself to death. I'm a perspectivist. I'm interested in different perspectives, and consider my view of things to be one perspective. I take it
2002.04.07 at 18:58 Conversationalist Alpha says for granted from myself and from other people. Be that as it may, I don't know anything *other* than interpretations of phenomena, so I can hardly be faulted for being committed to views that are "only" interpretations.
2002.04.07 at 18:59 Conversationalist Alpha says 2) What "HISTORIES?" I've been referring specifically to "Madness & Civilization," to "Discipline & Punish," to "History of Sexuality;" these themes that I'm talking about also play a big role in "Order of Things."
2002.04.07 at 19:01 Conversationalist Alpha says 3) I'm not saying and have never said that his works outline a liberatory program. What I said was that they are part of an exhortation. That is an illocution which becomes clear in the context of the pieces/events plus life/creation sum.
2002.04.07 at 19:03 Conversationalist Alpha says My views on F. are an interpretation, as would be anyone else's; the question is, who's got a more complete consideration of the details and how they relate together? Who uncovers more of the potential power behind the words?
2002.04.07 at 19:09 Conversationalist Alpha says You misunderstood what I meant by "behind the words." I don't mean to treat words (or anything else) as anything other than an event. That's my whole point. By "power behind the words" I mean, which interpretation can use the words as the
2002.04.07 at 19:09 Conversationalist Alpha says most powerful lever (as an arm applying torque "behind the lever"). Don't mix my metaphors! :)
2002.04.07 at 19:10 Conversationalist Alpha says Simply because "everything is only an interpretation (of fact/events)" it doesn't mean that all are "equal." My question is, which is a more convincing, complete, purposeful, and useful interpretation?
2002.04.07 at 19:20 Conversationalist Alpha says But my politics is not my only reason for reading. I also read for friendship and influences. Considered solely as anatomies of domination and power-accretion, then yes, what you say is true. But I read for a wide variety of reasons,
2002.04.07 at 19:20 Conversationalist Alpha says including appreciatory and literary and biographical (no, that's too crass -- biopoetic). They are all related in a way that a more pessimistic interpretation of F.'s writings couldn't be.
2002.04.07 at 19:21 Conversationalist Alpha says (ie., I would not be so insistent upon the liberatory potential of F.'s writings if I didn't think they played an important part in the constitution of F.'s life, and therefore of one another qua texts, thus opening new avenues for
2002.04.07 at 19:22 Conversationalist Alpha says productive reading that just wouldn't be there on a more superficial single-purpose reading.)
2002.04.07 at 19:28 Conversationalist Alpha says I guess the issue is whether you are interested in the genealogy (or forensics) leading up to an event. I am. (Foucault was.) I don't think you can pick and choose which events have genealogies and which don't.
2002.04.07 at 19:29 Conversationalist Alpha says I don't know why you use the word "inherent" to characterize what I'm saying.
2002.04.07 at 19:31 Conversationalist Alpha says I just said, it's not "inherent," but that's not the point. The point is which is more complete and more useful? I don't really give a flip what "Foucault scholars" are doing; they may have different, pedantic and limit(ed/ing) "reading
2002.04.07 at 19:32 Conversationalist Alpha says protocols" -- a phenomenon all too common in academia in general.
2002.04.07 at 19:36 Conversationalist Alpha says Useful to me, yes. But not more complete "to me." I'm not interested in people's reading protocols that permit glossing over details or neglecting context or situating a perspective.
2002.04.07 at 19:36 Conversationalist Alpha says (i don't think F. was either)
2002.04.07 at 19:44 Conversationalist Alpha says You didn't mention any, really, except "What is an Author?" which I'd like to reread but am pretty sure deals with issues quite distinct from the ones I'm talking about.
2002.04.07 at 19:55 Conversationalist Alpha says WHAT about his histories do you think I'm ignoring?
2002.04.07 at 19:56 Conversationalist Alpha says No, I don't mean to exclude "WiaA?" -- I already said, I read it before. I need to refresh my memory about it in order to review my position and articulate a response; that's different from neglecting it.
2002.04.07 at 19:58 Conversationalist Alpha says I'm also including things from his interviews (with Chomsky, with those guys for "Philosophy & Soc. Crit.") and the preface to "Anti-Oedipus."
2002.04.07 at 20:03 Conversationalist Alpha says Well, the thing that made the discussion "not fun anymore" for me was just that we continued to talk at "cross purposes" until we started falling into "attack positions" for each other.
2002.04.07 at 20:04 Conversationalist Alpha says Some of those remarks you highlighted as contributing to that, I took as being completely innocuous -- it was just the few messages leading directly up to that comment that made me start to back off.
2002.04.07 at 20:08 Conversationalist Alpha says Looks good. (Are you keeping the "/msg ctf" or the ref to UPEI? Those are dead give-aways -- I'm the only ctf, and the only regular noder at UPEI) Gotta run, cheers.
delete unArchive
You have 51 messages total.
its nice to have education
its nice to have water
its nice to have food
its nice to have a soft pillow
but none of those are our god-given (or..universe-given) rights
they are just things that are nice to have
and its nice to have other people to prohibit other people
(another other) from denying us these things
but we dont have to pretend like any of these things are
universal or absolute or 'deserved'
Absent-minded (see: terrible) Love "Poetry" MARK 1
2002.02.18 22.50
- skin peeling cold snow hand crakkerz
- "hey sara...i love you!"
- done with dancing and hip wiggling
- also: in frank sinatra/tony bennett voice
- cause we do it like that.
I don't think life (or anything, for that matter) needs a 'point' to be rewarding, etc. We shouldn't have to justify our existence by imaging a reason behind our actions that always just seems to elude us.
Anti-sentimental (see: vague) Love "Poetry" MARK 2
Why I think life is (or at least should be) pointless
It seems silly that we have to posit some sort of goal that we are attempting to achieve every morning by "waking up" rather than just accepting the fact that we are alive, and not treating life like a big contest.
Why is this kind of separation "dangerous"?
In separating yourself from something (say, your best friend) in order to achieve your goal, you are less likely to see the world from that person's point of view, and more likely to trample over their little slice of happiness. Ditto the environment. But how can you do this to yourself?
If you set a goal for yourself then:
If you achieve that goal, you are more likely to rest on your laurels, or become disillusioned with your life (i.e. "Have I reached my 'full' potential?", etc. etc.)
time slot...
Apathetic disclaimer: but, really, I don't think either....(it cuts off here).
Where is that goddamned closure?
HER: "It's right where you left it."
her: "Do you mean, 'It's Right. Where you left it'?"
HER: "Yes, sorry, I didn't enunciate that very well."