END TERM PAPER

CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL THEORIES- 1

BY- Aditya Tyagi[MA FILM STUDIES(Previous)]

1). Michael Foucault in his essay “What is Enlightenment? “asks the following questions to the
‘humanity’ of the ‘human’:
“How are we constituted as subjects of our own knowledge? How are we constituted as subjects who
exercise or submit to power relations? How are we constituted as moral subjects of our own actions? ”
Briefly reflect on these questions, particularly keeping in mind the ‘Me Too Movement’ or any other
issues of contemporary relevance you think will enlighten the moment/event.
1). Michael Foucault tries to write a critique and carefully determine the boundaries of Kant’s ideas on
Enlightenment and then he raises these questions which are stated above. But how humans can
transcend into enlightenment? This is a question which is raised by various philosophers through ages.
As stated we can attain it by taking care of ourselves. In the case of mammals, human is one the
exception, where a young offspring is taken care of by his biological parents or guardians for a very long
period of time until the offspring attains a certain age to take responsibility. There are certain steps
which can help us in attaining Enlightenment- first is by reading, which will help us to grows our
objective side. Then by examining our thoughts which helps us to understand ourselves better. One
should never follow someone completely or blindly because it impedes our thought process and it
sometimes hinders our free will. So a person should establish and follow a critical attitude. One should
understand the surroundings and within the set boundaries of the society like customs etc one should
experiment with it which helps him to have a sound subjectivity in their thought process.

Now in the above questions words like ‘subject’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘power’ are mentioned which has an
interwoven connection and meaning. ‘Foucault starts his description of power as turning the subject
into an object, an object of knowledge, of language and of the power which is mediated through them
and that create subjects. He describes three manners of objectification which turn individuals into
subjects. The first way is modes of inquiry aspiring to the status of science which produce "objective"
knowledge about the subject, thus objectifying life itself. The second practice of objectification Foucault
describes has to do with separation and distinction such as those drawn between mad and sane,
criminals and law abiding citizens (notions offered in his "Discipline and Punish" or "Madness and
Civilization"). The third mode of objectification has to with the manner in which individuals turn
themselves into subjects by identifying themselves in relations to larger structures, like for example
sexual orientation (discussed in Foucault's "History of Sexuality")’1 .

So, how we are constituted as subjects of our own knowledge?

The knowledge has a broader perspective, our objective understandings have changed and evolved by
the constant influx from the society which shapes our thought process which we exercise as subjects of
the society. ‘ The individual is transformed into the subject and the transformations take place as a result
of outside events and actions undertaken by the individual; different forms of power relations makes
individuals subjects. Foucault himself proposes in his essay The Subject and Power (1982) two meanings
of the word “subject”: „subject to someone else by control and dependence; and tied to his own identity
by a conscience or self-knowledge. Both meanings suggest a form of power which subjugates and makes
subject to.‟ (Foucault 1982: 781)’2. From ages the society we live in is patriarchal in nature. It has
affected our view on language, scholarly and scientific studies. Women folk are subjected to scrutiny
because of our objective understanding on them, which views them as a weak sex in terms of physicality
and mentality. This creates a bias which is now slowly being removed by the constant evolution of the
society .But the very human nature is primal, which objectifies them, which we can see throughout our
historical timeline. Our understanding of the sexes and sexuality has been hot topic of discussion
nowadays like how they are represented?, their conditions” etc, in the society.

Our basic approach as human beings is to “Be Human” and therefore must behave with all humility like
a good human being. It will provide us eternal peace and happiness. We should not inhumanly behave
like a beast as it will not enlighten us but will only drag us towards miseries and sufferings. We are
subjects of our own knowledge. If we think positive, utilize our knowledge towards our betterment and
betterment of the society and human kind, it will further enlighten us and give us happiness. But if we
do not use our knowledge humanly and take advantage of other subjects as in latest “Me too”
controversies then we will fail in attaining enlightenment and face all miseries which will ruin our
happiness as we can see Harvey Weinstein had to lose all his respect earned in the industry.

Therefore we can say that we are subjects to our own knowledge. If we utilize our knowledge well it will
help us in attaining enlightenment and prosperity. Otherwise we will only remain unhappy as human
and radiate only negativity and unhappiness all around like the knowledgeable and experienced people
not utilizing their own knowledge positively for themselves and getting involved incidents like “me too”,
drug peddling and other criminal activities. It does not help them as subjects of their own knowledge to
attain enlightenment but push them towards their own knowledge to attain enlightenment but push
them towards their own disillusionment and fading away in miseries.

How are we constituted as subjects who exercise or submit to power relations?

‘“Michel Foucault's "The Subject and Power" describes the manner in which power relations determine
subjects. In order to track these power relations he examines different strategies of resisting power.
Foucault lists a few such struggles of his time like women resisting men's power, children resisting
parents, patients resisting the medical establishment etc. and holds that they all share a few features.

1. They are not limited to one country or one political system.

2. Resistance is not directed at entire power fields but rather at the manner in which power is wielded
within the field. For example, criticism of modern medicine does not denounce its profit driven
motivation but rather the way it treats people while seeking profit.

3. These struggles are "immediate" in that that engage close by phenomena and not core issues, not the
central enemy but the most adjacent one.

4. The struggles do not peruse and utopic future of some sort, which makes them according to Foucault
anarchistic in nature.
5. These struggles question the statues of the individual. On the one hand they advocate for the right to
be different and on the other they protest separation between people which binds them to binary
identities (like the distinction between homo- and heterosexuals which drives them apart).

6. These struggles oppose knowledge and skills. On the one hand they protest the tyranny of knowledge
(like with doctors and patients) and on the other hand the criticize the distortion or concealment of
reality (a legacy from Marx's concept of ideology).

7. Finally, Foucault holds that all these struggles revolve around the question: who are we? they protest
the state's administrative notion of "population" or "groups" and demand recognition as individuals.”’\
?’3.
We are going to talk about “Me Too Movement”, “Jasmine Revolution” in the perspective of subjects
and their submission to power relation. During the fall of 2017, New York Times published an article
stating alleged sexual harassment committed by Harvey Weinstein and a lot of celebrities like Uma
Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow. To examine the power relation here the women spoke against the ongoing
harassment done by him through various means like making victims and employees signing non-
disclosure agreements(NDAs), Hiring private detectives for knowing the plaintiffs(victims) who filed case
against him, threatening , using intelligence firm to stalk etc. In 'Jasmine Revolution’, protestors are the
subjects which are trying to subdue the government because of their undue oppression on them.

How are we constituted as moral subjects of our own actions?

According to Newton third law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So
whatever we do or say has got its impact and reaction to it. We are responsible for it, but it is very
subjective in nature because the idea of morals, right or wrong is formed by the society. So our actions
are concerned with the principle of right or wrong, which is decided by the society. But sometimes apart
from the sphere of right or wrong, our actions can be judged or measured on the basis of holding or
manifesting high principle for proper conduct. When Kevin Spacey got himself involved in a sexual
harassment case, he had to leave the House of cards series. Recently MJ Akbar had to leave his post.
But many bureaucrats like Durga Shakti Nagpal are transferred within minutes just for doing their job.
‘In addition to a moral code and the real behaviors of individuals, Foucault claims that morality also
consists of a third area, namely, ethics. He commonly and pithily defines it as a relation of the subject to
itself, but a more technical definition of ethics is the conduct required of an individual so as to render its
own actions consistent with a moral code and standards of moral approval. For Foucault, conduct is a
category that is broader than moral agency and includes both non-moral actions and the exercising of
non-agential capacities (for example, attitudes, demeanor, and so forth). Ethical conduct, then, consists
of the actions performed and capacities exercised intentionally by a subject for the purpose of engaging
in morally approved conduct. Suppose, for example, that an individual adopts the prescription of sexual
fidelity to her partner. In this case, ethics concerns not her morally satisfactory conduct that directly
satisfies her duty of being faithful to her partner, but rather the conduct through which she enables or
brings herself to behave in a way that is sexually faithful to her partner’4.

FOOTNOTES-

1. http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com/2017/02/michel-foucault-subject-and-power.html
2. Olga Campbell- Thomson, Foucault,Technologies of the Self and National Identity, Paper
presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Institute of
Education, University of London, 6-8 September 2011, pp 3.
3. http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com/2017/02/michel-foucault-subject-and-power_27.html
4. https://www.iep.utm.edu/fouc-eth/ , 2 Morality and Ethics.

REFERENCES-

1. edited by H. Dreyfus and P. Rabinow — Foucault, Michel. “The Subject and Power.” In Beyond
Structuralism and Hermeneutics, The University of Chicago Press, 1983, 208-226.
2. https://thoughtleader.co.za/bertolivier/2012/10/16/what-is-enlightenment/
3. http://ydemokrat.blogspot.com/2010/12/kants-enlightenment-in-foucaults.html
4. https://www.iep.utm.edu/fouc-pol/#H6