Foucault, Normativity, and Freedom
A Reappraisal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12947651 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Giovanni Maria Mascaretti (0000-0002-6554-6421, University of Kurdistan Hewler, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 27 |
| Pages | 23-47 |
| Publication date | 2019-12-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Foucault Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1832-5203 • E-ISSN: 1832-5203 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.22439/fs.v27i27.5890 |
| OpenAlex | W3000360891 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 15 |
The aim of this article is to contribute to the recently revived debate over the normativity of Foucault’s genealogical method. More specifically, I shall respond to Fraser’s charge that Foucault’s rejection of humanism is unjustified because he cannot state why a totally panopticized, autonomous society would be objectionable. After dismissing a non-normative defence strategy of Foucault’s work, I shall proceed as follows: firstly, I shall clarify Fou-cault’s model of critique as a practice of problematization geared to free his addressees from their captivation to the system of truths sustaining the power mechanisms of modern biopolitics. Secondly, I shall argue that Fraser’s society should be resisted because it would reproduce this regime of captivity, thereby obstructing the exercise of freedom as self-transformation. Thirdly, I shall contend that Foucault’s normative orientation to a post-humanist conception of freedom as self-transformation finds a contextual, explanatory account in his attempt to revitalize the emancipatory project of Enlightenment modernity through a transformative problematization of our normative commitments. Moreover, I shall show that the standard of validity of this effort is represented by Foucault’s exemplary embodiment of the critical ethos of the Enlightenment in both his style of existence and theoretical activity. Finally, the article terminates by illustrating three shortcomings of Foucault’s normative approach
Biopower · Enlightenment · Epistemology · Humanism · Modernity · Normative · Political science · Power (physics · Problematization · Sociology · Subjectification · Theology · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and Social Theory
The passion of Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Foucault on Freedom and Truth
Foucault’s Subject of Power
Foucault, normativity and critique as a practice of the self
Passion Michel Foucault
Foucault, Freedom and Sovereignty
Genealogy, Methodology, & Normativity beyond Transcendentality
The Analytic Philosophy of Politics
The philosophical discourse of modernity
Foucault on Freedom and Truth
Taylor and Foucault on Power and Freedom
Revisiting Foucault's 'Normative Confusions
The Government of Self and Others
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,8 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |