the soul

[gnosis_within]

"It would be wrong to say that the soul is an illusion, or an ideological effect. On the contrary, it exists, it has a reality, it is produced permanently around, on, within the body by the functioning of a power that is exercised on those punished-and, in a more general way, on those one supervises, trains and corrects, over madmen, children at home and school, the colonized, over those who are stuck at a machine and supervised for the rest of their lives. This is the historical reality of this soul, which, unlike the soul represented by Christian theology, is not born in sin and subject to punishment, but is born rather out of methods of punishment, supervision and constraint. This real, non-corporal soul is not a substance; it is the element in which are articulated the effects of a certain type of power and the reference of a certain type of knowledge, the machinery by which the power relations give rise to a possible corpus of knowledge, and knowledge extends and reinforces the effects of this power. On this reality-reference, various concepts have been constructed and domains of analysis carved out: psyche, subjectivity, personality, consciousness, etc; on it have been built scientific techniques and discourses, and the moral claims of humanism. But let there be no misunderstanding: it is not that a real man, the object of knowledge, philosophical reflection or technical intervention, has been substituted for the soul, the illusion of the theologians. The man described for us, whom we are invited to free, is already in himself the effect of a subjection much more profound than himself. A 'soul' inhabits him and brings him into existence, which is itself a factor in the mastery that power exercises over the body. The soul is the instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body."

--foucault

[SHATOUSHKA]

hegel.... only atheist. [img]tongue.gif[/img]


jk....

[soulfilms]

i'm strange. i just can't take people seriously once i've detected a fault. in m. foucault's case, it's his pansy ass name. i know i shouldn't be so damn shallow, but i can't help it. whilst i admire his theory of deconstructionism, i simply can't say his name with a straight face. damn i can be so silly!

[SHATOUSHKA]

lol... i completely understand what you mean.
although i love the name 'foucalt'... the one
name i can't say with a straight face is:

<font size=30>husserl</font>

[TastinGood]

i cant say anything with a straight face. [img]tongue.gif[/img]