The colonial period of U.S. history contains a variety of interesting lessons. One of these pertains to the concept of a "virtuoso." The virtuoso was primarily characterized by curiosity. Rather than being overly specialized, the virtuoso explored a wide range of interests. The study of nature, art, literature, and theology all would have been pursuits common to this stereotype. This blog aspires to take this early category and use it as a point of departure for exploration and reflection.
Monday, November 21, 2011
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).
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