Foucault

Michel Foucault 1926-1984   // “People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do; but what they don’t know is what what they do does.” //


 * Michael Foucault was a French Philosopher during the 20th century. He discusses the relationship that exists between power and language.**


 * What is discourse? ** Written or spoken communication.


 * Rules of Exclusion: **
 * 1) // Prohibition: // You cannot just say anything you want.
 * 2) // Division and Rejection: // Fabrication of binary opposites like reason and madness.
 * 3) // The Will to Truth: // The standards for what is true and what is false. Institutions like schools and libraries are necessary for distributing this information (or lack thereof) to the public.


 * Internal Rules: **
 * // Commentary: // Texts repeat and provide commentary on earlier texts.
 * // Author: // Not the person who is responsible for writing the text, but the principle that connects the texts to a particular group of texts.
 * // Disciplines: // Groups of objects, methods, and things considered being true.


 * Rules Under Which Discourse May be Employed: ** Imposing rules on the individuals who use it and denying access to others.


 * // Ritual: // Outlines the necessary gestures and behaviours that must exist with the use of the particular discourse.
 * // Fellowships of Discourse: // Reproduces discourse but only so that it circulates within a specific group with strict restrictions. Language invites some people, while ignoring others.
 * // Doctrine: // Any discipline seems to welcome those prepared to recognize the same truths and conform to the same set of practices. While linking some, it bars others. Questions of heresy and unorthodoxy are intrinsic to all disciplines.


 * E **** lision of the Rea **** lity o **** f Discourse: **
 * // The Founding Subject: // You, as an individual, can find some empty language and discover the hidden meaning within it.
 * // Originating Experience: // There is meaning out in the world, which we find.
 * // Universal Mediation: // The things and events that become discourse.


 * Logophilia: ** The desire to control the uncontrollable.
 * Docile Bodies: ** Bodies that are ready to accept control or instruction.
 * Censorship: ** Rules of exclusion prohibit speaking about certain objects and arrange certain rituals and circumstances in which it is permissible to do so, and grant certain people (While excluding others) the exclusive right to do so.
 * Anxiety and Discourse: ** We want words to be transparent and institutions like schools, the media, and the government, respond to this desire by attempting to control discourse and give it some form of order.
 * Our language shapes our society and our language use is shaped by the power relationships within our society. **


 * The Arts of Distribution: **
 * // Enclosure: // A place that isolates individuals from each other.
 * // Partitioning: // Organizing space so that each individual has his own place and each place its own individual
 * // Function Sites: // Increase the productivity of the bodies within the particular enclosure; the goal is to make the space as useful as possible.
 * // Rank: // One’s status in relation to others in a community.


 * Controlling the Activity of the Bodies: **
 * Time- Table: This makes time useful by establishing duties and rhythms.
 * The temporal elaboration of the act: The degree of precision in the breakdown of gestures and movements.
 * Correlation of the body and the gesture: The best possible relation between a gesture and the position of the body. This ensures speed and efficiency by helping the body to find the best possible way of doing something.
 * The body-object articulation: The relationship the body must have with an object. This ensures efficiency by making sure that the body uses objects and tools in a way that is quick and effective.
 * Exhaustive Use: Using time to find more time within time.