Theories of subjectivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Theories of subjectivity - Essay ExampleFoucault spurned centuries-old assumptions concerning subjectivity. Rather than starting with the Enlightenment ideal of full self-knowledge and self-aware agency, Foucault shifts the critical focus onto discourse, a resistant concept that he uses to refer to language and other forms of representation indeed, all human mechanisms for the conveyance of importation and value. (Hall 2004, p. 91)In an attempt to illustrate some analogies regarding Foucaults concept of discourse, Tony Davies (1997) compared his notions with other theorists. According to him, discourse for Foucault is what the traffic of productions are for Marx, the unconscious for Freud, the impersonal laws of language for Saussure, ideology for Althusser the capillary structure of social cohesion and conformity. (p. 70)This piece of music is about Judith Butlers response to Foucaults theory of subjectivity. Particularly our discussion will short-circuit around the premise o f gender identity, which is Butlers own response to Foucaults body as the main driver behind subjectivity. Butler used Foucaults notions extensively, either as a home for her own notions or to criticize its weak assumptions.Michel Foucault, is one with eminent philosophers such as Nietzsche and Freud in his perceptiveness that the body has a key role in determining subjectivity. For Foucault, a living body is a constellation of powerful and often conflicting urges and impulses that give rise to different forms of subjectivity according to the beings internal organization and the disciplinary effects of socially regulated practices and norms. (Atkins 2005, p. 3)Foucault regards the body as having a pivotal role in the structuring of our subjectivities, our perceptions and our understanding. And so, Foucaults subject is neither entire autonomous nor enslaved, neither the genius of the discourses and practices