Positivism have been a mainstream methodology of social science for a time. But Positivism has no room for exercising critique, for it excludes the problems of value and obligation from the area of sciences. For that reason, social sciences have been ...
Positivism have been a mainstream methodology of social science for a time. But Positivism has no room for exercising critique, for it excludes the problems of value and obligation from the area of sciences. For that reason, social sciences have been developed under the situation of losing the linkages of theory and practice, method and critique. But the specificity of Foucault's works is that it don't lose the strains of critique, although Foucault's works take intensively positivistic figures. My thesis pays attention to that specificity. And it aims at understanding how method and critique work and what contents method and critique have in the Foucault's specific case.
This thesis see the theme of ‘the thought of outside(la pensee du dehors)' as the common principle and linking point of the critique and method. For that reason, this thesis concentrates on functioning the ways of ‘thought of outside' operating in the Foucault's critical works and methods.
On the level of analysis, the theme of ‘thought of outside' consists of two main phases. One is ‘the transgression on the limits' and the other is ‘the bracketing off the systems of meanings, values, recognitions of one's own culture'. From the former, the ethos of the Foucauldian ‘critique' is derived. And from the later, the logic of rigidity in ‘method' is derived. In other words, ‘the thought of outside' is an attempt to locate methodologically the place where we can think outside the limit of us; the cultural systems of the meanings, values, recognitions of our time and grammar of the critique which makes these limits relate and question.
Foucault named ‘critical ontology of ourselves' for his studies. In this sense, Foucault's works are attempts to investigate the limits and historical a priori which envelop us empirically. Then based on that result, it searches for the rooms of transgressing and going beyond these limits. In order to perform these works, at first, we need methodologies which can investigate these limits. At the same time, these methodologies must be constructed in such a way that can be served for us to investigate and criticize our culture at the outside of our culture. Those called the methodology of Archaeology and Genealogy, as Foucault constructed in this context.
Constructing the methodologies of archaeology and genealogy as a thought of outside can be performed through two stages. The first stage is the work of refining the languages, concepts and thinking frames for the study from the one's own cultural and conceptual ground. The seconds stage is the work of reconstructing new languages, concepts and thinking frames for the study, based on the first work. At the methodologies of archaeology and genealogy, a set of categories concerning subjectivity, for instance the concepts of continuity, totality, origin, are removed. Instead, those methodologies of archaeology and genealogy are forming the principles of reversal, discontinuity, specificity, exteriority and establishing the objects, concepts and strategies of study.
Methodologies of archaeology and genealogy have the purpose to conceive the systems of the meanings in outside and recognitions at the cultural background familiar to investigators. Because of these reasons, they can served to think differently and problematizise about the things which have been familiar and natural to us. In this point, those methodologies offer us a lot of potentialities for new standpoints and critiques of society.
‘The thought of outside’ as a logic of critique and principle of method, provides sociology with rich usefulness, especially, in the following two dimensions. First, it offers new grammar of critique. Second, it can be rich and useful resources for minorities' politics.
The logic of main critiques requires the ‘legitimacy' as a ingredient element. It takes the forms of self-reflection which operates on the straining relation of critique and legitimacy. But Foucault's logic of critique takes the form of transgression on the whole limits including the claim of the legitimacy. It purpose to think not about returning to oneself unceasingly by self-reflection but about going beyond to the outside of oneself. In these senses, Foucault's thought of outside enlarges the areas of critical social sciences through offering new grammar of critique to us.
Besides, thought of outside can serve to flourish the politics of minorities. Because the thought of outside is an attempts to operate the critical thought through ‘thinking differently’, it can be a counterpart of the systems as another main stream of society. In these senses, thought of outside can be the useful resources for minorities who had to be silenced their voices.