REL 305 - Foucault

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

Religion

Description:

Michel Foucault was first and foremost a scholar of power. His ironic "genealogies" of how the Enlightenment promised freedom but instead delivered intricate and perilous technologies of control have inspired philosophers, intellectual historians, and even novelists. Yet for all of this Foucault is often thought of as having posited a helpless subject trapped in an inescapable web. Worse, scholars such as Rosie Braidotti have seen this subject as a uniquely masculine maneuver-ignoring women's struggles. This course will consider Foucault and his own "mentors," Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Kant, among others, as well as exploring such central questions as Foucault's views on gender and sexuality. We will also examine whether Foucault was able--as he intended--to move beyond "resistance" in his later writings and help post-Enlightenment individuals engender a more empowered sense of subjectivity.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Although some work in Continental Philosophy will be helpful

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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