Han-Pile, B (2016) Foucault, normativity and critique as a practice of the self. Continental Philosophy Review, 49 (1). pp. 85-101. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-015-9360-2
Han-Pile, B (2016) Foucault, normativity and critique as a practice of the self. Continental Philosophy Review, 49 (1). pp. 85-101. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-015-9360-2
Han-Pile, B (2016) Foucault, normativity and critique as a practice of the self. Continental Philosophy Review, 49 (1). pp. 85-101. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-015-9360-2
Abstract
In this paper I distinguish between two main critical questions: ?how possible? questions, which look for enabling conditions (empirical or transcendental) and raise issues of epistemic normativity; and ?whether permissible? questions, which relate to conditions of legitimacy and ethical normativity. I examine the interplay of both types of questions in Foucault?s work and argue that this helps us to understand both the function of the historical a priori in the archeological period and the subsequent accusations of crypto-normativity levelled against Foucault by commentators such as Taylor and Habermas. I chart the complex conceptual space available for a defense. After examining several possible replies (in particular deflationary and constructivist), I conclude that the most effective option, and the one that fits Foucault?s approach best, is to refuse the demand for normative justification as self-defeating, and to opt for the cultivation of an appropriate ethical sensibility through an emphasis on critique as a performative practice of the self. I offer in conclusion some thoughts on what such practice may look like for Foucault.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Foucault; Critique; Normativity; Historical a priori; Crypto-normativity; Conditions of possibility; Freedom; Practices of the self |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies, School of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 24 May 2016 14:39 |
Last Modified: | 25 Oct 2024 10:41 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/16634 |
Available files
Filename: 2015-07-13 F & Critique as a Practice of the Self (BHP final).pdf