Digital Humanities at its best. Thank you professor for sharing your intellect with the public. It's the future and strength of humanities to share knowledge with and offer more space on the internet for those who cannot afford going to college.
Having grown up working class in a working class community I can assure you "naked resentment and ambition" are just as common among them. It's clearly exampled in the flaring, obnoxious, aggressive, souped up F250 diesel burnouts they'll do when the light changes. They're super masculine men, they've got somewhere to be. They just worked 2 weeks straight of hard manual labour and overtime and don't have the time or patience for these damn traffic lights or for anything at all to stand in their way, they're going to go berserk and charge to their destination in a fit of rage. Probably doing coke and steroids.
I am in the middle of my history degree, and Foucault is brought up a lot. His influence is felt a lot in any aspect of social or cultural history and you'll get a lot of use out of him in essays. I had a hard time wrapping my head around his work so this lecture really helped put it into perspective. Rest in peace, professor.
The best thing you can do is listen to Dr. Sugrue with an active mind. Great lectures aren't always about taking notes and trying to memorize dates and events. The best lecturers offer a controlled premise or a problem, then they try and excavate that premise with the audience. You're trying to better understand something together. So, as you're listening to him speak, answer back in your mind. Try to work through the concept with him. Don't get caught up in the specific dates necessarily--there is a time for that. Work through the ideas with him.
Lmao, funny because this guy is so behind on this. Postmodernism is out of fashion in academia and has been for like 20 years now, if you want some good and more up to do date stuff try the philosophise this podcast.
@@little_flitter Foucault is the most cited author in the humanities and social sciences so post-modernism is definitely not out of fashion. Perhaps you might argue though that Foucault is not truly post modernist, I might be inclined to agree. His work is not the same as Lyotard I suppose. Even if what you said was correct, it's still a meaningless comment nonetheless because these lectures are more than 20 years old.
@garethreynolds557 Most cited of all time. That doesn't make him the most cited of the past year. Noam Chomsky is also highly cited. He's not exactly in fashion either. In 2022, the most cited authors were David eisenberg (I remember because of breaking bad haha), Richard Kaner, and someone with Xiang in their name. I can't remember the full name, though. If that's your rebuttal, you're out of date, too.
@dadadissident It's amusing how you managed to sidestep any real effort in explaining yourself, all the while basking in the delusion of intellectual superiority that supposedly grants you exclusive insight. Everyone else is throwing around provocative smug comments without properly engaging with Foucault is hopelessly ignorant, irredeemable beyond a doubt, except you, while you're caught doing the same thing here with Sugrue's lecture. While others throw around fancy words without really engaging with Foucault's philosophy, you've chosen to stick to the point with Sugrue's lecture, carefully examining and explaining everything wrong with it. Nice to see someone getting straight to it instead of trying to sound impressive. Your keen discernment shines through amidst a sea of differing opinions. Why waste your brilliance on those who might struggle to appreciate it?
Critical theory will not or cannot critique itself, lest it cease to exist. Now, in 2021, an administration has been installed on the purview of critical theory, and any criticism against said administration MUST be dismissed as misinformation, or "Enlightenment blackmail" as Foucault would have it. Scary times.
"Psychoanalyst diagnosis Foucalt's problem as homosexuality, Foucalt diagnosis the psychoanalyst problem as psychoanalysis" - Has to be one of the greatest comebacks I've ever heard.
This is a good line, i really like the way sugure develps his rhetoric with stuff like this, but foucault was a pedophile as well. My impression is that if you introduce this idea first when you teach him, it's easier for students to understand why he was focused on these kinds of topics and a lot of his chains of thought
@@thoughtheglass I think you're referring to a petition that he among many of the prominent french intellectuals of that time including Satre signed to have the age of consent lowered. I'm not aware of any evidence that Foucault himself was a pedophile. Why would you say such a thing?
How many pre-enlightenment hours are equivalent to the post-enlightenment amount of crazy hours you’ve spent? Also, the units with which we measure time are social constructs.
5:40 "the soul is the prison of the body" - your delivery, your energy is beyond my limited education. Thank you for showing me what topics of interest look like when someone shares my excitement of the topic.
I cannot begin to count how many hours I have spent watching your lectures on a wide variety of ideas Professor Sugrue, nor thank you enough. As a philosophy grad student, you have helped clarify many complex issues as well as pointed out connections that have greatly contributed to my enjoyment and understanding.
This lecture has a real mid 1990's flavor to it. Foucault and Continental Philosophy has really taken off in English speaking countries since then. I'm sure a 2021 version by Prof Sugrue would be different to this. A nice time capsule. Very grateful, thank you. Fantastic channel.
It is not deadly. For instance...44:36 I think Dr. Segrue misses the point here. I don't believe that Foucault is saying that we have control over nature through sheer will. In fact, such power is that which the Enlightenment philosophers sought, through the power of reason...at least until they encountered the sublime. Rather, Foucault questions that which we socially construct as "nature" via discourse. In other words, much of which dominant society constructs as "natural" is not natural at all, but categorized as such in order to seize the power needed to label anything undesirable as "unnatural" so that it can be attacked and oppressed.
I studied all the critical theory philosophies as an undergraduate. The study opened so many doors of research and discoveries about consciousness, identity and society, particularly questions concerning power and the individual.
The way the Prof. flows is so smooth !! A great energy , passion and intellect --- nice to see what a great teacher can give to their students through speech -- this series is truly superb! Thank you for posting = this is a great public service
@@fromeveryting29 You know, the same song as "these kids today don't get _______." In other words, a lazy blanket statement about education based off of cursory glances at subjective statistics that fit an easy narrative. As an educator myself, I take offense. As a perpetual student, I raise my arms and get into boxing stance. I think Mr. Sugrue would too ;)
@@pickinstone I appreciate that you're teaching because we need good educators in the world but Dr. Sugrue was definitely pissed about the state of education he says so in the comments on this video. At least the institutional state of education in the US. and I quote: The time has come to remove the education of children from state control, decentralize educational decision making as much as possible and within the bounds of limited but genuinely enforced requirements. Do we want the arrogant clowns in DC, who would never send their children to the same schools that they they tell us are good enough for everyone else, to have the power over education, especially given the pathetically low standard the US has set?
@@daviddenotaris3176 The issues with education don't stem from common core or federal oversight... The issues are rooted in erroneous beliefs that situate school buildings in the same historical imagination as prisons. Students are not criminals, but we sure treat them as such. I could go on, but I don't need a huge comment thread as a response. Thanks for that correction, David!
Wow - You are a great teacher. Such complicated thoughts and ideas like Foucault have been made very clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much. You are such a good speaker and with speak with clarity. I wonder how you prepare for such talks....Incredible...
The logical fault that lies in the foundation of Foucauldian project (and invalidates it completely) is the introduction of this specter of "Freedom" which somehow opposes Power. If there's only Power and Power permeates everything, then the only thing that opposes Power is another Power. His "Freedom" is a complete non-entity conjured out of thin air. Schopenhauer (despite a grave mistake in his construction) was very clear and consistent on this subject: it's all Will struggling with itself via its various Representations. The only liberation Foucault offers or seeks is that of his own Power. And his life is the best testament to that.
His philosophy could provide a freedom by exposing power for what it is. One could then resist power without attempting to dominate others. I could resist the shackles that society attempts to place on me without trying to shackle you.
@@GRoos-b4z first of all, power is almost always visible, otherwise it serves no purpose, you need to constantly remind people who's the boss and that's just stupid. And secondly, if only relations are power relations, then there's only one freedom, and that is to exert one's power. And that's precisely how Habermas made the whole Foucauldian project crumble in an insant.
@@mentalitydesignvideo Power works best when seemingly invisible. Otherwise, victims feel victimized, resisting/revolting. The most potent type of power seduces others into believing they're powerful, when they're not. Look at companies that shun a hierarchical structure, using informal or "participative" management. Or look at policies that let "associates" set their own quarterly goals, "allowing" sixty-hour work weeks. 🤣. One could escape power relations by becoming loners and living off welfare. But I guess you would say that person were exercising his power. Even if true, power isn't distributed equally. Person X might possess ten times as much power as Person Y, effectively rendering the latter powerless. Go into your workplace and start throwing your weight around. You'd be shown the door, killing your short-lived dominance. If word got around that you were a troublemaker, nobody would hire you. You'd end up homeless, where you'd serve as prey for others at the bottom of the food chain. Or, even worse, you'd be harassed by police, who'd steamroll you, if you didn't suck up. There's always that imbalance in power that traps most in a master-slave struggle. You can't get out of it simply by "asserting power," unless you wanted to end up as roadkill.
Very astute point about those using foucalt’s heroism to delegitimize others ideas at the same legitimizing their own has led to the me to era of delegitimizing any dialogue of differing views. Uncanny how clearly you the ramifications of this line of thought. A lot to mull over. Thank you.
Foucault and his millions of admirers are resoundingly rebuked in Sugrue's final sentence of this lecture. Amoral radicalism can only be a patsy for those with plans.
That exchange with Habermas is so revealing. Habermas's objection is exactly the objection I had to Foucault when first exposed to him: isn't this kind of critique just a solvent you're choosing to apply to the things you don't like? Where is your moral desirability of freedom coming from? It's very odd to me that so many people aren't troubled by this.
The problem with Habermas and many others are that they are still stuck on christian or other mystical moral theory. In Nietzchean secular moral theory here is no transgendent morality that is going to give answer like ”why is freedom desirable”. Pursuing freedom is therefore entirely about choise, not about morality. Or it can be though out that freedom is the default state and to give up freedom requires really good reason which there aren’t many for voluntarists.
Disturbing username, but I agree. -- If there's a moral desirability of freedom over coercion, surely prisons are defensible as a restriction on those who've deployed prohibited forms of coercion...
HABERMAS is part of the FRANKFURT SCHOOL, whose biggest exponents are ADORNO, HORKHEIMER, and MARCUSE, the intellectual godfathers of the NEW LEFT and CRITICAL THEORY. Yes, that critical theory that says race is a social construct, favors intersectionality over class issues, and says conservatives are closeted fascists. These people have a vested interest in maintaining the Enlightenment regime of contractarianism, individualism, scientism, capitalism, and they fear Nietzsche’s hammer because they fled Germany, the home of Heidegger, and another influence on the postmodernists.
Wonderful lecture. I think one thing that we can learn from Foucault, and maybe why he's so influential, is that he demonstrated the tools to apply the Nietzschean deconstruction to the broader society. As you had described Renaissance as an age of analogy, he appears to be doing precisely that, taking Nietzsche's critique of religion, morality, and self, and finding analogous ways to deconstruct criminality, madness, sexuality, and the nature of reality as a whole.
I saw some old SNL sketch right before watching this and because of the light and studio like scenery behind the guy I can't shake off the impression that he's about to say something funny and the audience will react with laughter xD
I like the idea that this guy is at the dinner table with his family and has just decided to go on a ramble about whatever he's been reading about to an uninterested family audience
Such an acrimonious surge of intellectual strife flowed from the thought life of this man. Unbridled criticism of what society has made of mankind, realization, exposure of the shackles we forged when we domesticated the spirit.
@@dr.michaelsugrue Thank you for your reply! Blood Meridian was in deed the most shocking of novels I have ever had the dubious pleasure of reading. The infamous story that is too ridden with a sort of perplexing spiritual decay to be made into a film. Also, I listened to your analysis of it and certainly your lesson provided much to ponder in reflection. As in fact all of your lessons have done, and for this I consider you to be among the most insightful and influential of educators not only online but without a doubt of my life thus far. I am sure that there are thousands who fully agree.
I felt the same way for a while, but I find that the uh, more generous readings of Nietzsche (which I was inclined towards myself until I saw a lecture on it recently that made it seem like I was correct in my instinct) makes for a solid vaccine. No need to mute yourself around others. Just embrace the depravity of the world and try to lessen it wherever you can, guerilla-style. Bring the joy, understanding, peace, and humanity (doh) that you possess to those who otherwise would have never glimpsed it. Bring the fire down and help others see with it. Gotta be careful though, it's a fine line to tread. Perhaps wouldn't be worth it if there was a palatable alternative. Tbh I when I first was reading neitsche it contributed to me being a unreservedly shitty person. I still am, but at least I will towards being something better, learning from my mistakes, establishing my own values, etc. Oh, and try to forget that by doing so you might just be furthering the goals of a more sinister/reprehensible social machinery. I'm optimistic, what can I say.
The pandemic has been an interesting time for people to develop aspects of their character budding in the shadows; the overarching observation in relation to power and post-structuralism is that I sincerely found that the forced intimacy with the self liberated much of what has been suppressed. Although we live in seemingly darker times, I sense we’ve approached a sort of truth (however daunting) illuminated by this newfound authenticity. Does this answer your question?
@@holihsredlumednil6847 cope for the rest for your miserable existence, internet comments will always be the only place people like you get to feel at home
Holy shit. He destroys him in the last minute. And for people saying Sugrue LIKES Foucault in this lecture, he released a podcast I'm listening to right now where he calls him a "fucking monster" and "homicidal" for knowingly spreading HIV.
@@firstal3799 Yes, his views were great. I'm still trying to get people to sign a petition so that underage sex with consenting children can be legalized, but everyone I approach calls me horrible. I have no idea why. I mean, whats so wrong with that?
Foucault's one paradigm of knowledge (discontinuity) reminds me of Parmenides' view that change is an illusion. Often times, ideas seem (for me) to break down to the problem of the one and the many.
Thank you for these uploads. The recent videos at Bibliotheca Smartlibraries were so informative and interesting. I'd recommend anyone to those videos swell.
Thanks a lot for this. It seems in Australia we have a word for Foucault's amoral Nihilists with their reckless will to power. We call them 'politicians'! Cheers, thanks again
I've always struggled with philosophy and most likely always will, but thank you for clarifying some things for me. I will read some of your suggested readings.
One thing professor Sugrue does in a lot of his lectures is that I wish other philosophy teachers did: focus on the aesthetic qualities of the language, turns of phrase, and the presentation of ideas.
Have seen Dr. Sugrue videos recommended to me. Started watching them recently. Out of the 5 or 6 so far this one is different. The pace in which he talks seems to be a 2x speed of say Hegel, Aurelius, Nietzsche etc. Almost as if a madness and frustration with Foucault. I get the same thing when listening to Peterson, Lindsay, Boghossian etc also talk about Foucault. Almost as if there is some madness with in Foucault philosophy.
I only can emphasize the applause of the audience - great lecture series. its quite unfortunate though how often Georges Batailles influence on the french thought of the 20th century gets overlooked (important for Foucault as well), would love to hear more lectures about him.
@@dr.michaelsugrue hah! great news. i had read in an article that he died. perhaps i got him mixed up with someone with the same name. your dad is great. hope he is well.
@@dr.michaelsugrue and I still don't think that he is anti-Foucault. post-modernism nails so many points from a critical level. excellent series. Excellent person to call dad. thanks for posting,,
Reading him my first thought was never been such intellectual prowess put into to get human beings back to apes 😀 no really a very deep thinker, you may like or dislike him, but can't ignore him, a successor of Rousseau
Thank you for this. My intellectual background is in analytic/Anglo-American philosophy but I’ve always been keen to understand, as far as possible, the so-called continental tradition and ‘French theory’. Insofar as *Histoire de la Folie* and its influence, especially on Szasz, is concerned, *autism* continues to prove particularly tricky for social construction theorists like Foucault. That said, many of the categories of ‘mental illness’ as delineated by the psychiatrists’ grand diagnostic texts (APA DSM-V, WHO ISD-11, &c.) are simply behavioural descriptions with little or no prospect of mapping onto underlying neurological pathologies. So if nothing else the anti-psychiatry movement rendered a service to otherwise conspicuous elements among the socially vulnerable.
LSD for Barthe, psilocybin for Foucault, mescaline for Baudrillard, and crystal meth for Debord. Ya feel me? Heroin for all you Marxist-Leninists, and Anarcho-capitalists are all on crack. No particular philosophy or politics for marijuana. It’s a gateway drug. 🤡
could the professor give this lucid yet very critical lecture of foucault at princeton in 2022 without being fired? I wonder. I’m grateful for a clear minded exegesis of foucault that sees the contradictions in Foucault’s desire to never be governed yet wants to govern others with his abolish all prisons or even the idea of crime etc. Thanku for this lecture-may other professors reevaluate their thoughts on foucault should they see this
No, the tyranny of the Gnostics is complete. One of mt daughters is completing her Ph.D and I am very happy that she has decided not to swim in the present academic cesspool.
@@dr.michaelsugrue Wow! Thanks for the response Dr. Sugrue! I continue to enjoy your lectures from the early 90’s in the Great Courses series that I believe your daughter put on youtube and got you a new following (like me). Nice to see you making new videos as well. What or who do you recommend I read to learn more about the revival of a form of gnosticism in the academy/culture? Take good care, and thanks again for the response. Grace and peace -mark
@@dr.michaelsugrueDr interested to know your thought of Dr James Lindsay with his diagnosis that these Leftist thinkers such as Marx, Foucault etc are Gnostic. Would rather enjoy a talk between you two.
I can't thank you enough for uploading these videos. This is what the internet was made for.
Made for your mother.
@@ЕрмекНурбаев-м1ч ََشَشششش
@@ЕрмекНурбаев-м1ч Ñññpñññññññpp0pppppppñ
@@JoseSanchez-zo5tb and then internet crashed
@@amitwaghmare3863 Only if you take it seriously.
RIP Prof. Sugrue. He possessed two often incompatible traits: a great intellect and a great ability to teach.
And he employed his gifts to fight nihilism.
@@dionysian222 yea, he was a bible-banging Catholic. How lame.
RIP 🙏
@Hilaire_Balrog he's passed?! Oh man. RIP. :/
A great man.
@@dionysian222 Did Foucault take away your power to imperiously judge others? In other words, has your own will to power been disrupted?
Can't believe I'm only discovering this man at 33 he's a master of deep thinking and then unpacking it beautifully.
Digital Humanities at its best. Thank you professor for sharing your intellect with the public. It's the future and strength of humanities to share knowledge with and offer more space on the internet for those who cannot afford going to college.
Wow. Indeed. I won't be surprised if he somehow actually an android.
@@mikexhotmail not funny
@@ammar5878 It's not a joke...more like a compliment.
@@mikexhotmailfunny
@@flup1303 That's why we love DATA or Mr.Spock
"The naked resentment and ambition of the intellectual class".
That is a line to finish a lecture series on.
Having grown up working class in a working class community I can assure you "naked resentment and ambition" are just as common among them.
It's clearly exampled in the flaring, obnoxious, aggressive, souped up F250 diesel burnouts they'll do when the light changes. They're super masculine men, they've got somewhere to be. They just worked 2 weeks straight of hard manual labour and overtime and don't have the time or patience for these damn traffic lights or for anything at all to stand in their way, they're going to go berserk and charge to their destination in a fit of rage. Probably doing coke and steroids.
I am in the middle of my history degree, and Foucault is brought up a lot. His influence is felt a lot in any aspect of social or cultural history and you'll get a lot of use out of him in essays. I had a hard time wrapping my head around his work so this lecture really helped put it into perspective.
Rest in peace, professor.
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone to explain Postmodernism/Post structuralism with more clarity than this gentleman. Thank you for these.
What should i do to internalise his teachings? What is your secret of learning from him...
The best thing you can do is listen to Dr. Sugrue with an active mind. Great lectures aren't always about taking notes and trying to memorize dates and events. The best lecturers offer a controlled premise or a problem, then they try and excavate that premise with the audience. You're trying to better understand something together. So, as you're listening to him speak, answer back in your mind. Try to work through the concept with him. Don't get caught up in the specific dates necessarily--there is a time for that. Work through the ideas with him.
Lmao, funny because this guy is so behind on this. Postmodernism is out of fashion in academia and has been for like 20 years now, if you want some good and more up to do date stuff try the philosophise this podcast.
@@little_flitter Foucault is the most cited author in the humanities and social sciences so post-modernism is definitely not out of fashion. Perhaps you might argue though that Foucault is not truly post modernist, I might be inclined to agree. His work is not the same as Lyotard I suppose.
Even if what you said was correct, it's still a meaningless comment nonetheless because these lectures are more than 20 years old.
@garethreynolds557 Most cited of all time. That doesn't make him the most cited of the past year. Noam Chomsky is also highly cited. He's not exactly in fashion either.
In 2022, the most cited authors were David eisenberg (I remember because of breaking bad haha), Richard Kaner, and someone with Xiang in their name. I can't remember the full name, though.
If that's your rebuttal, you're out of date, too.
Foucault's ideas of 'the care of the self', 'Philosophical ethos' and the 'parresia' are so underrated.
Sugrue is my kind of teacher. And I don't often like teachers. A lighthouse. Thank you.
From where does this dislike of teachers emerge?
Ending was straight up triumphant! What a talk. Like everyone else, I'm celebrating having access to this treasure!!
@dadadissidentyou done being a pedo apologist?
@dadadissident It's amusing how you managed to sidestep any real effort in explaining yourself, all the while basking in the delusion of intellectual superiority that supposedly grants you exclusive insight.
Everyone else is throwing around provocative smug comments without properly engaging with Foucault is hopelessly ignorant, irredeemable beyond a doubt, except you, while you're caught doing the same thing here with Sugrue's lecture. While others throw around fancy words without really engaging with Foucault's philosophy, you've chosen to stick to the point with Sugrue's lecture, carefully examining and explaining everything wrong with it. Nice to see someone getting straight to it instead of trying to sound impressive.
Your keen discernment shines through amidst a sea of differing opinions. Why waste your brilliance on those who might struggle to appreciate it?
Jesus Christ! This man's insight is awe-inspiring. The way he closed the lecture made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Critical theory will not or cannot critique itself, lest it cease to exist. Now, in 2021, an administration has been installed on the purview of critical theory, and any criticism against said administration MUST be dismissed as misinformation, or "Enlightenment blackmail" as Foucault would have it. Scary times.
@@burnlikeneon4044 lololololololololol
@@jamesfrancese6091 you're laughing because you know it's true, not because I'm wrong, and you are rooting for destruction.
@@burnlikeneon4044 lololololololooolololololol
Seriously. Man called the last 10 years on Western society in 92
"Psychoanalyst diagnosis Foucalt's problem as homosexuality, Foucalt diagnosis the psychoanalyst problem as psychoanalysis" - Has to be one of the greatest comebacks I've ever heard.
This is a good line, i really like the way sugure develps his rhetoric with stuff like this, but foucault was a pedophile as well.
My impression is that if you introduce this idea first when you teach him, it's easier for students to understand why he was focused on these kinds of topics and a lot of his chains of thought
@@zacharyadamcruz 6:20 ish
@@thoughtheglass I think you're referring to a petition that he among many of the prominent french intellectuals of that time including Satre signed to have the age of consent lowered. I'm not aware of any evidence that Foucault himself was a pedophile. Why would you say such a thing?
@@noor5x9 Because it's easier than to engage with what Foucault actually wrote.
Doctor "you're gay", Foucault "your gaze..."
This stuffs just incredible. The insane amount of hours I’ve spent on your lectures attest to that. Bravo sir.
How many pre-enlightenment hours are equivalent to the post-enlightenment amount of crazy hours you’ve spent? Also, the units with which we measure time are social constructs.
@@MarcosElMalo2 🤣🤣🤣
Same here
@@oasis700
This is fantastic 👏
5:40 "the soul is the prison of the body" - your delivery, your energy is beyond my limited education. Thank you for showing me what topics of interest look like when someone shares my excitement of the topic.
The body an instrument for the soul so that the world may know what we are.
I cannot begin to count how many hours I have spent watching your lectures on a wide variety of ideas Professor Sugrue, nor thank you enough. As a philosophy grad student, you have helped clarify many complex issues as well as pointed out connections that have greatly contributed to my enjoyment and understanding.
Love this! The best thing happened to me at this juncture of my life! Forever inspired and grateful ❤
This lecture has a real mid 1990's flavor to it. Foucault and Continental Philosophy has really taken off in English speaking countries since then. I'm sure a 2021 version by Prof Sugrue would be different to this. A nice time capsule. Very grateful, thank you. Fantastic channel.
That philosophy is cancer
if you check out his recent podcast on foucault he is actually much more critical, albeit un-rehearsed
I was listening to Foucault's 'abolish prisons' point and thinking about the current discourse in America right now
@@drainel9707 what’s the podcast called?
@@TheLuckster4 The Idea Store
Best exposition of Foucault I've ever heard. Very impressive indeed.
This is a deadly and completely necessary critical examination of Foucault. Thank you, Mr. Sugrue!
It is not deadly. For instance...44:36 I think Dr. Segrue misses the point here. I don't believe that Foucault is saying that we have control over nature through sheer will. In fact, such power is that which the Enlightenment philosophers sought, through the power of reason...at least until they encountered the sublime. Rather, Foucault questions that which we socially construct as "nature" via discourse. In other words, much of which dominant society constructs as "natural" is not natural at all, but categorized as such in order to seize the power needed to label anything undesirable as "unnatural" so that it can be attacked and oppressed.
He's a great professor! He presents ideas in a very clear manner!
Sensational. I was at the edge of my seat for the last 15 minutes.
I studied all the critical theory philosophies as an undergraduate. The study opened so many doors of research and discoveries about consciousness, identity and society, particularly questions concerning power and the individual.
This is such a treasure! We can't thank you enough Prof. Michael🤝
The way the Prof. flows is so smooth !! A great energy , passion and intellect --- nice to see what a great teacher can give to their students through speech -- this series is truly superb! Thank you for posting = this is a great public service
Considering the current state of western education, this is one of the most enlightening and important lectures I have ever seen.
What do you mean about the "state of western education"?
@@fromeveryting29 You know, the same song as "these kids today don't get _______." In other words, a lazy blanket statement about education based off of cursory glances at subjective statistics that fit an easy narrative. As an educator myself, I take offense. As a perpetual student, I raise my arms and get into boxing stance. I think Mr. Sugrue would too ;)
@@pickinstonewell said.
@@pickinstone I appreciate that you're teaching because we need good educators in the world but Dr. Sugrue was definitely pissed about the state of education he says so in the comments on this video. At least the institutional state of education in the US.
and I quote:
The time has come to remove the education of children from state control, decentralize educational decision making as much as possible and within the bounds of limited but genuinely enforced requirements. Do we want the arrogant clowns in DC, who would never send their children to the same schools that they they tell us are good enough for everyone else, to have the power over education, especially given the pathetically low standard the US has set?
@@daviddenotaris3176 The issues with education don't stem from common core or federal oversight... The issues are rooted in erroneous beliefs that situate school buildings in the same historical imagination as prisons. Students are not criminals, but we sure treat them as such. I could go on, but I don't need a huge comment thread as a response. Thanks for that correction, David!
thank you professor, so thankful to be apart of the many to watch these almost daily. rest easy
great lesson on focault, analyzed in depth but comprehensible. I dig the Dwight Schrute cosplay
lol, this was how male academics dressed when I was in college in the 80s. I bet he’s wearing sneakers.
I love listening to Michael Sugrue, in other words, I really enjoy his philosophical summaries.
Wow - You are a great teacher. Such complicated thoughts and ideas like Foucault have been made very clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much. You are such a good speaker and with speak with clarity. I wonder how you prepare for such talks....Incredible...
The logical fault that lies in the foundation of Foucauldian project (and invalidates it completely) is the introduction of this specter of "Freedom" which somehow opposes Power. If there's only Power and Power permeates everything, then the only thing that opposes Power is another Power. His "Freedom" is a complete non-entity conjured out of thin air. Schopenhauer (despite a grave mistake in his construction) was very clear and consistent on this subject: it's all Will struggling with itself via its various Representations.
The only liberation Foucault offers or seeks is that of his own Power. And his life is the best testament to that.
You made me exclaim "Yes!" Just now. What a wonderfully succinct comment.
His philosophy could provide a freedom by exposing power for what it is. One could then resist power without attempting to dominate others. I could resist the shackles that society attempts to place on me without trying to shackle you.
@@GRoos-b4z first of all, power is almost always visible, otherwise it serves no purpose, you need to constantly remind people who's the boss and that's just stupid.
And secondly, if only relations are power relations, then there's only one freedom, and that is to exert one's power.
And that's precisely how Habermas made the whole Foucauldian project crumble in an insant.
@@mentalitydesignvideo Power works best when seemingly invisible. Otherwise, victims feel victimized, resisting/revolting. The most potent type of power seduces others into believing they're powerful, when they're not. Look at companies that shun a hierarchical structure, using informal or "participative" management. Or look at policies that let "associates" set their own quarterly goals, "allowing" sixty-hour work weeks. 🤣. One could escape power relations by becoming loners and living off welfare. But I guess you would say that person were exercising his power. Even if true, power isn't distributed equally. Person X might possess ten times as much power as Person Y, effectively rendering the latter powerless. Go into your workplace and start throwing your weight around. You'd be shown the door, killing your short-lived dominance. If word got around that you were a troublemaker, nobody would hire you. You'd end up homeless, where you'd serve as prey for others at the bottom of the food chain. Or, even worse, you'd be harassed by police, who'd steamroll you, if you didn't suck up. There's always that imbalance in power that traps most in a master-slave struggle. You can't get out of it simply by "asserting power," unless you wanted to end up as roadkill.
Humanity need more people like you
I will forever come back and rewatch all of thses videos throughout my life.
didn't know he had passed on. RIP Dr Sugrue and thank you for leaving us these gems
Thank you Dr Sugrue. So clear, yet unbiased.
Unbiased? Is there nothing within this lecture that your mind is able to question?
The last idea of this video sums up the last 10 years.
for real! i just played the last half minute of the video 4 times to grasp this perfect summary and he even calls it metooism.
Very astute point about those using foucalt’s heroism to delegitimize others ideas at the same legitimizing their own has led to the me to era of delegitimizing any dialogue of differing views. Uncanny how clearly you the ramifications of this line of thought. A lot to mull over. Thank you.
@@zacharyadamcruz bad habits are hard to break.
Thank you professor for an accessible introduction to this very complicated mans thoughts 💭 your clarity and eloquence never cease to amaze me 👏🏻
*A very sick man's thoughts.
^you are sick@@Rusty-Shackleford69
@@LasArmas_ After looking at your comments, you aren't worth a response.🤭
@@Rusty-Shackleford69 but you responded. Proving my point
@LasArmas_ Also, I'm WHITE, so I'm not like the usual suspects like burnt tires, lmfao!
Really appreciate this video. Thank you for uploading!
I'm in shock & awe , pretty sure I'll need to re-watch it, thank you for the lecture
Great lecture couldn’t have asked for anything more (apart from his swallowing made me want to cry)
This explains so much of today's discourse and the advancement of specific ideas like transhumanism.
Sadly, yes.
Precisely
The criticisms are so heroic in the sense that, it all deconstructing the the concept of delegitimizing
I owe you huge thanks for educating me with such a bewildering clarity.
Foucault and his millions of admirers are resoundingly rebuked in Sugrue's final sentence of this lecture. Amoral radicalism can only be a patsy for those with plans.
Very perceptive
And proved every day. Useful idiots.
That exchange with Habermas is so revealing. Habermas's objection is exactly the objection I had to Foucault when first exposed to him: isn't this kind of critique just a solvent you're choosing to apply to the things you don't like? Where is your moral desirability of freedom coming from? It's very odd to me that so many people aren't troubled by this.
Hmm
The problem with Habermas and many others are that they are still stuck on christian or other mystical moral theory.
In Nietzchean secular moral theory here is no transgendent morality that is going to give answer like ”why is freedom desirable”.
Pursuing freedom is therefore entirely about choise, not about morality. Or it can be though out that freedom is the default state and to give up freedom requires really good reason which there aren’t many for voluntarists.
Disturbing username, but I agree. -- If there's a moral desirability of freedom over coercion, surely prisons are defensible as a restriction on those who've deployed prohibited forms of coercion...
HABERMAS is part of the FRANKFURT SCHOOL, whose biggest exponents are ADORNO, HORKHEIMER, and MARCUSE, the intellectual godfathers of the NEW LEFT and CRITICAL THEORY. Yes, that critical theory that says race is a social construct, favors intersectionality over class issues, and says conservatives are closeted fascists. These people have a vested interest in maintaining the Enlightenment regime of contractarianism, individualism, scientism, capitalism, and they fear Nietzsche’s hammer because they fled Germany, the home of Heidegger, and another influence on the postmodernists.
Wonderful lecture. I think one thing that we can learn from Foucault, and maybe why he's so influential, is that he demonstrated the tools to apply the Nietzschean deconstruction to the broader society. As you had described Renaissance as an age of analogy, he appears to be doing precisely that, taking Nietzsche's critique of religion, morality, and self, and finding analogous ways to deconstruct criminality, madness, sexuality, and the nature of reality as a whole.
Very good lecture and spectacular end, which I much enjoyed!
Totally agree w Jarrod. Enjoying these greatly. Wish I’d discovered Prof Sugrue earlier!
I saw some old SNL sketch right before watching this and because of the light and studio like scenery behind the guy I can't shake off the impression that he's about to say something funny and the audience will react with laughter xD
Sounds like your baked bro
I can fall asleep to these videos, and I can wake up to these videos.
Expert.
I like the idea that this guy is at the dinner table with his family and has just decided to go on a ramble about whatever he's been reading about to an uninterested family audience
story of my life, the only reason why I enjoy going to school, the only place where people listen
What an engaging and captivating speaker I love his diction
I hope your Dr Sugrue health is improving!
He died..
Dad said he's working on it.
That’s good to know. Merry Christmas to you both, and thanks for the idea store ( I’m loving it).
What an incredible teacher!
Thank you Professor Sugrue. 🙏🏽
So glad I found this channel.
Such an acrimonious surge of intellectual strife flowed from the thought life of this man. Unbridled criticism of what society has made of mankind, realization, exposure of the shackles we forged when we domesticated the spirit.
Read Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian.
@@dr.michaelsugrue Thank you for your reply! Blood Meridian was in deed the most shocking of novels I have ever had the dubious pleasure of reading. The infamous story that is too ridden with a sort of perplexing spiritual decay to be made into a film. Also, I listened to your analysis of it and certainly your lesson provided much to ponder in reflection. As in fact all of your lessons have done, and for this I consider you to be among the most insightful and influential of educators not only online but without a doubt of my life thus far. I am sure that there are thousands who fully agree.
watching your lectures feels like someone petting my brain
I felt the same way for a while, but I find that the uh, more generous readings of Nietzsche (which I was inclined towards myself until I saw a lecture on it recently that made it seem like I was correct in my instinct) makes for a solid vaccine.
No need to mute yourself around others. Just embrace the depravity of the world and try to lessen it wherever you can, guerilla-style. Bring the joy, understanding, peace, and humanity (doh) that you possess to those who otherwise would have never glimpsed it. Bring the fire down and help others see with it.
Gotta be careful though, it's a fine line to tread. Perhaps wouldn't be worth it if there was a palatable alternative.
Tbh I when I first was reading neitsche it contributed to me being a unreservedly shitty person. I still am, but at least I will towards being something better, learning from my mistakes, establishing my own values, etc.
Oh, and try to forget that by doing so you might just be furthering the goals of a more sinister/reprehensible social machinery. I'm optimistic, what can I say.
What did you think of the pandemic and the different reactions?
The pandemic has been an interesting time for people to develop aspects of their character budding in the shadows; the overarching observation in relation to power and post-structuralism is that I sincerely found that the forced intimacy with the self liberated much of what has been suppressed. Although we live in seemingly darker times, I sense we’ve approached a sort of truth (however daunting) illuminated by this newfound authenticity. Does this answer your question?
@@objet_aa9492 I found this answer unique and enlightening, I was to focused on the negative of it all.
"A hopeless attempt to evade nature"
Love that line.
Left wing belief in a nutshell
@@GhGh-gq8oo we've made it this far. Keep plugging that fatalist defeatism and see how far it gets you.
@@holihsredlumednil6847 you get to groom children now, but you're still going to be looking like a freak
@@holihsredlumednil6847 cope for the rest for your miserable existence, internet comments will always be the only place people like you get to feel at home
what is nature?
Holy shit. He destroys him in the last minute.
And for people saying Sugrue LIKES Foucault in this lecture, he released a podcast I'm listening to right now where he calls him a "fucking monster" and "homicidal" for knowingly spreading HIV.
You can dislike a man and like his views same time
@@firstal3799 Yes, his views were great. I'm still trying to get people to sign a petition so that underage sex with consenting children can be legalized, but everyone I approach calls me horrible. I have no idea why. I mean, whats so wrong with that?
Where canthis podcast be accessed?
@@casteretpollux it's on spotify. The podcast is the "Idea Store" and it's the Foucault episode.
@@Orgotheonemancultthank you. Was going to ask for the podcast.
This man has has an above average command of the English language.
That’s putting it lightly 😊
I like how in the screenshot Michael is doing the Greco-Roman prayer hand gesture. Lovely :)
Thanks Professor!!
Foucault's one paradigm of knowledge (discontinuity) reminds me of Parmenides' view that change is an illusion. Often times, ideas seem (for me) to break down to the problem of the one and the many.
Thank you for these uploads. The recent videos at Bibliotheca Smartlibraries were so informative and interesting. I'd recommend anyone to those videos swell.
Very good summaries with good analysis
Incredible. Thank you for these videos, what a blessing
I’ve been waiting for this one. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for this. It seems in Australia we have a word for Foucault's amoral Nihilists with their reckless will to power. We call them 'politicians'! Cheers, thanks again
I've always struggled with philosophy and most likely always will, but thank you for clarifying some things for me. I will read some of your suggested readings.
Same I read it but some times have a failure of digesting it fully. Breakdowns such as this makes me go back reread it and have better understanding.
Excellent closing considering your lack of time!
Thanks for the thoughtful and fair analysis.
One thing professor Sugrue does in a lot of his lectures is that I wish other philosophy teachers did: focus on the aesthetic qualities of the language, turns of phrase, and the presentation of ideas.
Have seen Dr. Sugrue videos recommended to me. Started watching them recently. Out of the 5 or 6 so far this one is different. The pace in which he talks seems to be a 2x speed of say Hegel, Aurelius, Nietzsche etc. Almost as if a madness and frustration with Foucault. I get the same thing when listening to Peterson, Lindsay, Boghossian etc also talk about Foucault. Almost as if there is some madness with in Foucault philosophy.
The prof. was a bible-banging Catholic. So I doubt that he appreciated Foucault's perception of religion as arbitrary. 😂😂
Thank you Professor for the deep insights..
Thank you for the amazing lectures, professor.
I only can emphasize the applause of the audience - great lecture series. its quite unfortunate though how often Georges Batailles influence on the french thought of the 20th century gets overlooked (important for Foucault as well), would love to hear more lectures about him.
dude is dead. unlikely you will get what you want
@@michaelg7520 I didn't necessarily meant him exclusively, it was rather the expression of a general longing :/
Dad said he's mainly alive.
@@dr.michaelsugrue hah! great news. i had read in an article that he died. perhaps i got him mixed up with someone with the same name. your dad is great. hope he is well.
@@dr.michaelsugrue and I still don't think that he is anti-Foucault. post-modernism nails so many points from a critical level. excellent series. Excellent person to call dad. thanks for posting,,
Very enjoyable watch.. Well done
Reading him my first thought was never been such intellectual prowess put into to get human beings back to apes 😀 no really a very deep thinker, you may like or dislike him, but can't ignore him, a successor of Rousseau
Thank you for this. My intellectual background is in analytic/Anglo-American philosophy but I’ve always been keen to understand, as far as possible, the so-called continental tradition and ‘French theory’. Insofar as *Histoire de la Folie* and its influence, especially on Szasz, is concerned, *autism* continues to prove particularly tricky for social construction theorists like Foucault. That said, many of the categories of ‘mental illness’ as delineated by the psychiatrists’ grand diagnostic texts (APA DSM-V, WHO ISD-11, &c.) are simply behavioural descriptions with little or no prospect of mapping onto underlying neurological pathologies. So if nothing else the anti-psychiatry movement rendered a service to otherwise conspicuous elements among the socially vulnerable.
i appreciate this video.
I miss you.
Thank you. I truly enjoy your lectures
very interesting and well taught thaank you for sharing
Brilliant and thought-provoking, as ever.
And a Whole lot more
Superb. Thanks for uploading.
he is a gift to humanity from gods
These lectures are so good
totally cool lecture, happy we can watch stuff like this
That is all beautiful. Dr Sugrue: that's a great soul you have trapping your body there.
Excellent lecture, could you ask the Prof his view on Baudrillard and Debord? Would be fascinated to hear even a one sentence appraisal.
Of pàr excellence
LSD for Barthe, psilocybin for Foucault, mescaline for Baudrillard, and crystal meth for Debord. Ya feel me? Heroin for all you Marxist-Leninists, and Anarcho-capitalists are all on crack. No particular philosophy or politics for marijuana. It’s a gateway drug. 🤡
Absolutely fantastic. Thanks!
That last line sure aged well
I can't thank you enough for uploading g these videos
could the professor give this lucid yet very critical lecture of foucault at princeton in 2022 without being fired? I wonder. I’m grateful for a clear minded exegesis of foucault that sees the contradictions in Foucault’s desire to never be governed yet wants to govern others with his abolish all prisons or even the idea of crime etc. Thanku for this lecture-may other professors reevaluate their thoughts on foucault should they see this
No, the tyranny of the Gnostics is complete. One of mt daughters is completing her Ph.D and I am very happy that she has decided not to swim in the present academic cesspool.
@@dr.michaelsugrue Wow! Thanks for the response Dr. Sugrue! I continue to enjoy your lectures from the early 90’s in the Great Courses series that I believe your daughter put on youtube and got you a new following (like me). Nice to see you making new videos as well. What or who do you recommend I read to learn more about the revival of a form of gnosticism in the academy/culture? Take good care, and thanks again for the response. Grace and peace -mark
@@dr.michaelsugrueDr interested to know your thought of Dr James Lindsay with his diagnosis that these Leftist thinkers such as Marx, Foucault etc are Gnostic. Would rather enjoy a talk between you two.
Thank you for these videos 💯💯🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
This is what teaching is about. His students are privilliged.
i love these men so much thank you
"No French intellectual would leave a clique, except to join another clique." - Mary McCarthy, I think
Words are not enough to thank you.