Cartesian Certainty, A Problem?

"Figures such as Derrida and John D. Caputo rightly point out (and many who are part of the emergent conversation and very sympathetic on this score) that the modern Cartesian dream of absolute certainty is just that: a dream, and admittedly, one that has been a nightmare for those who have become victims to such rational confidence (colonized peoples, an exploited creation, etc.). And far too often, some version of Cartesian certainty has attached itself to particular religious expressions - the result is what we call fundamentalism - and engendered untold harm." ~ James K.A. Smith "Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?" pg. 118

Some Brief Thoughts On Foucault

Through the course of his analysis, Foucault documents the formation of what he calls a "disciplinary society" - the primary goal of which is the creation of the individual - a "reality fabricated by this specific technology of power that [he has] called 'discipline'" (DP, 194). So the goal of a disciplinary society, and the institutions within that society, is the formation of individuals by mechanisms of power. Society makes individuals in its own image, and the tools for such manufacturing are the disciplines of power. Here Foucault adds an important provisio: "We must cease once and for all to describe the effects of power in negative terms: it 'excludes,' it 'represses,' it 'censors,' it 'abstracts, it 'masks,' it 'conceals.' In fact, power produces; it produces reality" (DP, 194).

Some Thoughts On The Relationship Between Power and Knowledge

Question: If power is knowledge, and knowledge is not power, does a pluralit of competing power machinations give rise to a higher probability of the discovery of transcendent truth? Is it possible that trans-epicurean presuppositional narratives are more abundant in societies that maintain a higher degree of competition? (Context: Foucault's “Discipline and Punish”)

Poetic Thoughts On History

The past has been a mint
Of blood and sorrow.
That must not be
True of tomorrow.

~Langston Hughes