Theory & Philosophy Michel Foucault's "What is Enlightenment?"
Apr 3, 2021
Dive into Michel Foucault's critique of Enlightenment, where he challenges traditional views and compares them to Kant’s thoughts. Discover how authority and autonomy intersect in modern society. The discussion highlights the complex relationships between power dynamics and self-identity. Historical context plays a key role in understanding how Enlightenment ideals shape our modern perceptions of morality and individuality.
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Kant's Enlightenment Insight
- Kant viewed enlightenment as emancipation from mental servitude to authority while still submitting to reasoned authority.
- Foucault identifies Kant's true insight as motivating reflection on the future and one's stake in it.
Modernity's Disruptive Present
- Modernity disrupts linear historical temporality and celebrates the present moment's poetry and potential.
- Foucault highlights this perpetual critique attitude as the ethos of enlightenment and modernity.
Skepticism Toward Modernity's Fixity
- Engaging with modernity means permanent skepticism, avoiding rigid rationalism, and resisting static humanist categories.
- Foucault critiques the Enlightenment's historicist rigidity and its conflict with evolving humanism forms.
