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Who was Michel Foucault? This video introduces the French philosopher and social theorist who focused on discipline, discourse, and power. What are...
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Description:
Who was Michel Foucault? This video introduces the French philosopher and social theorist who focused on discipline, discourse, and power. What are his thoughts on those? Watch the video to find out.
Transcript
- 00:00
Michel Foucault<<mee-shell foo-coe>>, a la Shmoop: Disciple, discourse and power.
- 00:04
<<This video is done bobblehead style; narrator is Michel Foucault (Fr. accent)>>
- 00:14
Bonjour, mon ami. So nice of you to join me today. I was just finishing up lunch with
- 00:21
a friend.
- 00:22
Take care, Celine. I'll call you. Give my best to Rene.
Full Transcript
- 00:26
My name is Michel Foucault, and I am a philosopher and social theorist.
- 00:31
I am also a singer, but that's really more just something I do in the shower.
- 00:38
I'd like to talk to you about a few things that I feel passionately about.
- 00:43
You'll know when I'm getting passionate, because my cheeks get all rosy.
- 00:47
Trust me... my cheeks get rosy a lot. First is the concept of discipline.
- 00:54
I'm not talking about parents who spank their children...
- 00:57
...or leather-clad women with whips and stools.
- 01:00
Which is what your children will grow up to be when you spank them, by the way.
- 01:05
Mais non<<may no>>... I'm really referring to disciplinary power wielded by institutions
- 01:11
that are backed by the state.
- 01:13
The whole "Big Brother" thing.
- 01:15
Except... the rules they want you to follow have been deeply engrained in you by these
- 01:21
institutions...
- 01:21
...so they don't even need a big monitor with roving eyes to keep tabs on you.
- 01:26
They know that you are going to automatically turn on your left turn signal as you approach
- 01:33
the intersection...
- 01:34
...even though there isn't another car for miles.
- 01:39
If they wanted to send you in a trance to pick up their dry cleaning, they could probably
- 01:46
manage that, too.
- 01:48
The use of discipline has made us mindless, obedient sheep. And that is baaaad.
- 01:56
Here's another one... and I can feel my cheeks getting rosy already...
- 02:00
"Discourse." Discourse includes all written and spoken examples of communication.
- 02:07
We're talking speech, love notes, sign language, vulgar gestures, semaphore... everything.
- 02:17
But all discourse is tied up to and connected with all other discourse.
- 02:23
So unfortunately, all of the power hierarchies in society are bound by language, and can't
- 02:29
really escape them. For example, we use the word "prison" to describe
- 02:30
capital punishment...
- 02:30
...and therefore, "prison" will always be the way we think of punishment.
- 02:31
Because of our limited discourse, we can't really envision escaping these kinds of power
- 02:32
structures. Last but not least, let's chat about "power"
- 02:35
for a second.
- 02:36
Not every type of power can just be recharged when it starts flashing red.
- 02:42
There is another type of power... the power that so encompasses the human mind that it
- 02:47
can actually enact a significant change on a person's personality, on their thoughts,
- 02:54
their feelings...
- 02:56
Power controls our will. There is the power of the state, which is felt when tax time
- 03:03
rolls around.
- 03:08
There is the power of people over one another, which is felt when one demands that their
- 03:14
fiancé sign a pre-nuptial agreement.
- 03:20
Power is addictive... and dangerous. It can lead to manipulation and domination.
- 03:28
And... we're right back to discipline. Well, that's just about enough for today.
- 03:34
Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go ice my cheeks.
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