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Full Idea
I am somewhat suspicious of the notion of liberation, because one runs the risk of falling back on the idea that there is a human nature, that has been concealed or alienated by mechanisms of repression.
Gist of Idea
The idea of liberation suggests there is a human nature which has been repressed
Source
Michel Foucault (Ethics of the Concern for Self as Freedom [1984], p.282)
Book Ref
Foucault,Michel: 'Essential Works 1954-1984 I: Ethics', ed/tr. Rabinow,Paul [Penguin 1994], p.282
A Reaction
Personally I think there is (to some extent) a human nature, and that it fails to flourish if it gets too much 'liberation. However, the world contains a lot more repression than liberation, so we should all be fans of liberty.
| 7418 | The idea of liberation suggests there is a human nature which has been repressed [Foucault] |
| 7419 | Ethics is the conscious practice of freedom [Foucault] |
| 7420 | When logos controls our desires, we have actually become the logos [Foucault] |
| 7422 | A subject is a form which can change, in (say) political or sexual situations [Foucault] |
| 7423 | Philosophy and politics are fundamentally linked [Foucault] |
| 7424 | Saying games of truth were merely power relations would be a horrible exaggeration [Foucault] |
| 7425 | The aim is not to eliminate power relations, but to reduce domination [Foucault] |
| 7426 | Critical philosophy is what questions domination at every level [Foucault] |