Power and freedom in the space of reasons : elaborating Foucault's pragmatism /
"This book argues that the received view of the distinction between freedom and power must be rejected because it rests on an untenable account of the discursive cognition that endows individuals with the capacity for autonomy, self-governed rationality. In liberal and Kantian approaches alike,...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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New York, NY :
Routledge,
2024.
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| Series: | Routledge studies in twentieth century philosophy.
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | "This book argues that the received view of the distinction between freedom and power must be rejected because it rests on an untenable account of the discursive cognition that endows individuals with the capacity for autonomy, self-governed rationality. In liberal and Kantian approaches alike, the autonomous subject is a self-standing starting-point, whose freedom is constrained by relations of power only contingently because they are external to the subject's constitution. Thus, the received view defines the distinction between freedom and power as a dichotomy. Michel Foucault is arguably the most important critic of that dichotomy. However, it is widely agreed that Foucault falls short of justifying the alternative view he develops, where power and freedom are essentially entangled instead. The book fills out the gap by investigating the social preconditions of discursive cognition. Drawing on pragmatist-inferentialist resources from the philosophy of language (Wittgenstein, Sellars, Brandom), it presents a new interpretation of Foucault's philosophy that is unified by his overlooked idea of "the archaeology of knowledge". As a result, the book explains why and how power and freedom must be entangled, but also what it means ethically to pursue and gain autonomy with respect to one's own understanding. Power and Freedom in the Space of Reasons will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in social and political philosophy, critical theory, ethics, philosophy of language, and the history of 20th-century philosophy"-- |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (viii, 139 pages). |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |
| ISBN: | 1032673036 9781040048474 1040048471 9781040048399 1040048390 9781032673035 |