Foucault-L mail-list

Hello,

as this is my first post i'm going to introduce myself:
I'm studying at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Currently, i'm 
writing my master thesis about Foucault. My focus is on the problem of 
emancipation in Foucaults work. So my work will develop around Foucaults 
concepts of Enlightment, freedom, subjectivity and ethos.

In some aspects it is closely linked to your work Sam. I have no 
concrete answer to your question, but i have kind of an idea, where you 
probably can find some answers (at least i'm trying to find my answers 
there). I think the central sentence in the essay "What is Enlightment" 
is found at the very end of it:
"The critical ontology of ourselves has to be considered not, certainly, 
as a theory, a doctrine, nor even es a permanent body of knowledge that 
is accumulating; it has to be concieved as an attitude, an ethos, a 
philosophical life in which the critique of what we are is at one and 
the same time the historical analysis of the limits that are imposed on 
us and an experiment with the posibility of going beyond them."
I think this ethos or philosophical life is the concept, which can 
function as the instrument of changing power-relations. Foucault is not 
into making a big revolution, for several reasons. E.g. he says in the 
book "Spektrum der Genealogie" that the central mission of philosophy is 
to reject, what we are, and to build, what we could be. This is probalby 
the Foucaultian revolution. How this is achieved though, i don't know, 
but this is the main point of my thesis, and i think the answer could be 
found in the second and third part of "the history and sexuality", where 
he describes the techniques of the self.

I hope i explained my thoughts clearly. I'm looking forward getting some 
replies.

Alexander Weiß