Τι είναι διαφωτισμός

by Michel Foucault

Σήμερα όταν ένα περιοδικό θέτει στους αναγνώστες του ένα ερώτημα, έχει σκοπό να συλλέξει απόψεις επί ενός θέματος για το οποίο ο καθένας έχει ήδη μια γνώμη· δεν υπάρχει μεγάλη πιθανότητα να μάθει κανείς κάτι καινούργιο. Κατά τον δέκατο όγδοο αιώνα, οι εκδότες προτιμούσαν να θέτουν στο κοινό ερωτήματα σχετικά με προβλήματα τα οποία δεν είχαν ακόμη επιλυθεί. Δεν ξέρω κατά πόσο αυτή η πρακτική ήταν περισσότερο αποτελεσματική· αναμφισβήτητα όμως παρουσιάζει μεγαλύτερο ενδιαφέρον.

Με κάποια ευκαιρία, στο πλαίσιο αυτής της συνήθειας, τον Νοέμβριο του 1784 ένα γερμανικό περιοδικό, το Belninische Monatschrif, δημοσίευσε μια απάντηση στο ερώτημα: Was ist Aufklarung? και ο απαντών ήταν ο Καντ.

Ένα έλασσον κείμενο, ίσως. Όμως νομίζω ότι σημασιοδοτεί μια διακριτική είσοδο στην ιστορία της σκέψης πάνω σ' ένα ερώτημα στο οποίο η σύγχρονη φιλοσοφία δεν μπόρεσε να απαντήσει, αλλά και από το οποίο ποτέ δεν μπόρεσε να απαγκιστρωθεί. Πρόκειται για ένα ερώτημα το οποίο επαναλαμβάνεται με ποικίλες μορφές επί δύο αιώνες τώρα. Από τον Χέγκελ μέσω του Νίτσε ή του Μαξ Βέμπερ, μέχρι τον Χορκχάιμερ ή τον Χάμπερμας, κανένας σχεδόν φιλόσοφος δεν απέφυγε να αντιμετωπίσει το ερώτημα αυτό, άμεσα ή έμμεσα. Τι είναι, λοιπόν, το φαινόμενο αυτό που ονομάσθηκε "Aufklarung" και το οποίο έχει καθορίσει, εν μέρει τουλάχιστον, το τι είμαστε, τι σκεπτόμαστε και τι πράττουμε σήμερα; [...]

Μισέλ Φουκώ

Genres: Nonfiction, France, Philosophy

44 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Paul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationships between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Though often cited as a structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels. His thought has influenced academics, especially those working in communication studies, anthropology, psychology, sociology, criminology, cultural studies, literary theory, feminism, Marxism and critical theory.
Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV, at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser, and at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he earned degrees in philosophy and psychology. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961). After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications that displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".
From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault was admitted to the Collège de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also became active in several left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods that emphasized the role that power plays in society.
Foucault died in Paris from complications of HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from complications of the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.

Reviews

[Maria Thomarey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
Ο φουκω με το γνωστο του αναλυτικό τροπο και τροπισμο κριτικάρει μερικώς συγκρατημένα τον Διαφωτιζμο ως ιστορικό αντεικειμενο .

[Eternauta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Με σημείο έναρξης ένα φαινομενικά κοινότοπο ερώτημα ο Φουκω διατυπώνει ένα μικρό "μανιφέστο" ή μια στρατηγική έρευνας που άξονά της έχει τον αναστοχασμό πάνω σε ό,τι ορίζει την υποκειμενικότητα:

"Η κριτική οντολογία του εαυτού μας σίγουρα πρέπει να θεωρηθεί όχι ως μια θεωρία, ένα δόγμα, ούτε ακόμα ως ένα σταθερό σώμα γνώσης που συσσωρεύεται. Πρέπει να συλληφθεί ως μια στάση, ένα ήθος, ένας φιλοσοφικός βίος στον οποίο η κριτική αυτού που είμαστε είναι συγχρόνως η ιστορική ανάλυση των ορίων που έχουν επιβληθεί πάνω μας και ένας πειραματισμός με την πιθανότητα να τα υπερβούμε".

[Vazha · Rating 4 out of 5]

კანტის აზრით განმანათლებლობა არის გამოსვლა უმწიფრობიდან ანუ უუნარობიდან, რომელიც შებოჭილია თავისუფალი აზრის გამოთქმისგან და ატარებს სხვის აზრს და ცხოვრობს მასზე. მაგალითად (როგორც თვითონ ამბობს) : მღვდელი ეუბნება ადამიანს: " ნუ ფიქრობ, ირწმუნე!"
ექიმი ეუბნება ადამიანს: " ნუ ფიქრობ, დამემორჩილე!" და ა.შ.

ამასთანავე, მისი აზრით, საჭიროა ზოგ მომენტში უბრალოდ დამორჩილება, რომელიც ცოტა პარადოქსულია მაგრამ მართალი.
არ შეიძლება პოლიციელი არ დაემორჩილოს მაღალი რანგის ოფიცერს, თუმცა ეს არ უნდა კრძალავდეს იმას, რომ მას შეეძლოს გამოთქვას საკუთარი აზრი გადასახადების ან ადამიანის დაჭერის საკითხში. კრიტიკა არ შეიძლება პოლიციელისგან, მაგრამ აზრი, რომელიც გამოხატავს მის იდეას, რომელიც ასევე შეიძლება შეიცავდეს კრიტიკას, დასაშვებია.

[CyberMonk · Rating 5 out of 5]

საკუთარი არსებობის ადგილად და დროდ რაც მოგვესაჯა, ამის გასააზრებლად კარგი ტექსტია, ძალიან.