SOC461 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Miguel De Cervantes, Horses In Warfare, Episteme
13 Dec 2016
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Soc 461: Nov 22, 2016 : Foucault: The Eye that Looks at Itself
• Mihel Foualt eteds Maheis isights, eaiig oks of at to see hat the tell us
about how a society understood the nature of truth
• The Order of Things suggests a historical sequence of epistemes, or ways of justifying
Superstition:
• Suggestion that contact can produce something: bad luck, carry knowledge, etc.
1a. Nature of Truth
• Knowledge: Justified true beliefs, things we know to be true for various reasons (scientific
evidence, logical deduction)
• Episteolog: Stud of the asi oditios of tuth ad koledge, eg. h do e thik
epiial eidee gies us etai koledge?
• Foucault looks beyond philosophy to the historical and social conditions underlying it, and
introduces special idea of episteme.
o Goes beyond philosophical theories of knowledge to examine basic foundational way of
thinking about the world.
o This will affect epistemology in particular world.
• It is not (simply that past ties ke less tha us, o didt hae as adaed a sietifi
ethod; athe, the had e diffeet stadads fo aeptig soethig as tue.
1b. The knight of the sorrowful countenance
• Miguel de Ceates Do Quiote tells of anachronistically-idealistic knight who seeks to
recreate the feats of knights of old.
o Mediaeval days of knights was hundreds of years in the past.
• Quiote ats out the ole of a kight, speakig i elaoate laguage ad doig all hes
expected to.
• Hes confused by similarities: he mistakes windmills for giants, and thinks of his ld nag as a
mighty and glorious warhorse.
• Novel thus mocks his world-view: the age of chivalry was long-dead.
1c. The magical mindset
Magic:
• Principle of similarity
o If we see X follow Y, then X can always follow Y: your lucky pencil brings you luck once,
so it always will.
o If we can cause X, we cause Y.
• Principle of contagion
o To ojets that touh eah othe eai assoiated ee afte the ae take apat.
o Touching P with Q passes on the qualities of Q to P.
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Document Summary
Superstition: suggestion that contact can produce something: bad luck, carry knowledge, etc. It is not (simply(cid:895) that past ti(cid:373)es (cid:858)k(cid:374)e(cid:449) less(cid:859) tha(cid:374) us, o(cid:396) did(cid:374)(cid:859)t ha(cid:448)e as ad(cid:448)a(cid:374)(cid:272)ed a s(cid:272)ie(cid:374)tifi(cid:272) (cid:373)ethod; (cid:396)athe(cid:396), the(cid:455) had (cid:448)e(cid:396)(cid:455) diffe(cid:396)e(cid:374)t sta(cid:374)da(cid:396)ds fo(cid:396) a(cid:272)(cid:272)epti(cid:374)g so(cid:373)ethi(cid:374)g as (cid:858)t(cid:396)ue(cid:859). If we see x follow y, then x can always follow y: your lucky pencil brings you luck once, so it always will. Reality is a system of signs: overall, knowledge in the renaissance was disordered, no coherent science based on first principles. Goal of knowledge was merely to note resemblances, rather than set out clear standards of knowledge: the principle of knowledge thus lies in the things, rather than in any overarching system. Religion: high renaissance: picture oriented towards christ in the image; everything focuses on the central figure. Principle of order found within the picture: gesturing towards the figure. In the painting by raphael, the principle of order is clearly attented to jesus.
