Michel Foucault French Philosopher and Historian 1926 1984 Biography Born Paul Michel Foucault in Poitiers France on October 15 1926 Father was a surgeon who hoped Michel would follow in his footsteps Known for his critical studies of various social institutions including medicine education psychiatry and his work on the history of sexuality Influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche Immanuel Kant and Georges Dum zil Experimented with the drug LSD in 1975 considered it the best experience of his life Education and Career attended cole Normale Sup rieure earned degrees in both psychology and philosophy Was a member of the French Communist Party from 1950 1953 later it was said he never was an active participant Taught psychology at the University of Lille from 1953 1954 1954 1958 served as a cultural delegate to the University of Uppsala in Sweden Also held teaching posts at Warsaw University the University of Hamburg and the University of Tunis throughout the late 1950s and 60 s Also earned his doctorate in philosophy 1970 elected to France s most prestigious academic body the Coll ge de France as Professor of the History of Systems of Thought First visited the U S in 1970 lectured at the University of Buffalo and UCBerkeley The Imitation of Life Foucault s writings on sexuality are thought to have been influenced by his homosexuality In the 1970 s and 80 s Foucault participated in anonymous lifestyle in San Francisco It is suspected during this time he contracted HIV Died of an AIDS related illness on June 16 1984 the 1st high profile French personality to be reported as an AIDS victim Originally slated to be a six volume project his work The History of Sexuality was never fully published due to restrictions within his estate The History of Sexuality Michel Foucault Right to Life Right to Life goes hand in hand with Right to Die Whoever controls right by deduction has means to take it away Power of Life and Death Whoever controls the wealth taxes products good services labor and blood controls life and death in a society Examples kings lords land owners slave owners any sovereign Control food war and peace and laborcan let live or die at will Power Today In a rational society power usually does not come from control over life and death Ex death penalty Less common Seen as a protection for the rest of society Importance of quality of life New power comes from Bio Power Power Today What are some examples of modern societies that have been controlled by direct power over life and death Bio Power Bio power is a technology of power Uses different techniques to allow for control of the entire population Bio Power Anatomo politics of the human body Idea of the body as a machine it is productive useful etc Appears in the military education work to make the population more disciplined Bio Power Regulatory controls a bio politics of the population Body is part of the mechanics of lifepropagation births and deaths health life expectancy and longevity Used in demography wealth analysis etc to control population statistically Bio Power Bio power is responsible for Capitalism Controlled input of people into labor and adjustments to the population The Judicial System Threat for disobedience is ultimately death But not death by a sovereign death becomes a norm upheld by society as punishment Power held within society is more stable and accepted Bio Power and Sexuality The right to life to one s body to health to happiness to the satisfaction of needs and beyond all the oppressions or alienations the right to rediscover what one is and all that one can be this right which the classical juridical system was utterly incapable of comprehending was the political response to all these new procedures of power which did not derive either from the traditional right of sovereignty The History of Sexuality Bio Power and Sexuality Link between control of the body and power makes sexuality a political issue in 2 ways Discipline of the body Controlling and distributing people and their energy Regulation of population Affects medical and psychological fields as well as public policy Politics of Sex Foucault highlights 4 lines of attack that the politics of sex play upon The sexualization of children The hysterization of women The solidity of the family institution The safeguarding of society Politics of sex Do you agree with Foucault s assessment that our society is based on bio power Based on Foucault s writing what issues does our society currently face that may be seen as threats to the current nation state based on bio power Truth and Power Michel Foucault Truth and Power An interview in which Foucault speaks on power truth phenomenology ideology as well as touches on society s repression of sexuality Is there a definition of power or truth Although Foucault speaks extensively on the subject matter he does not give a definition of what power is Speaks on the political problem Power Power is exercised concretely and in detail in regards to specificity techniques and tactics Power is visible Is power simply a means of repression According to Foucault the answer is no What makes power acceptable is that is produces goods induces pleasure forms knowledge produces discourse Power should be viewed as a productive network versus a negative instance which represses Truth The important thing here I believe is that truth isn t outside power or lacking in power contrary to a myth whose history and functions would repay further study truth isn t the reward of free spirits the children of protracted solitude nor the privilege of those who have succeeded in liberating themselves Truth is a thing of this world it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint And it induces regular effects of power Truth continued Is said to have been influenced by Nietzsche s statement that knowledge functions as an instrument of power Truth is subject to economic and political incitement Is an object of diffusion and consumption Is transmittable through the control of the dominant political and economical instutitions e g academic institutions military media writing The three fold specificity of the intellectual a class position b conditions of his life and work c the specificity of the politics of truth in our societies The political problem is not changing the minds of people s thinking but the production of truth on political economic and institutionalized levels Truth is power but would power be considered as truth Foucault