PHIL 380:01 Special Topics in Philosophy

Sex, Crime, and Knowledge:
The Work of Michel Foucault

Fall, 2002
Dr. McWhorter

Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1
Foucault, Power: Essential Works of Michel Foucault, Vol. III
Foucault, Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth: Essential Works of Michel Foucault, Vol. I
Foucault, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Essays, 1972-1977
Foucault, The Use of Pleasure

Calendar of Readings

August 27:
Introduction to the Course.

August 29:
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, 1-35.

September 3:
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, 36-73; Precis Due!

September 5:
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, 77-131.

September 10:
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, 135-159 and Foucault, "The History of Sexuality," in Power/Knowledge, 183-93.

September 12:
NO CLASS: Dr. McWhorter will be the guest of the Cultural Studies Colloquium at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, which will consist of a presentation and discussion of her book Bodies and Pleasures: Foucault and the Politics of Sexual Normalization. Foucault students are invited to attend. (ROAD TRIP!)

September 17:
Foucault, "Confession of the Flesh," in Power/Knowledge, 194-228. By this day, students must choose a group to work in for the rest of the semester. There will be four groups, one of each of the following topics: (1) Reception of Foucault by American Left, (2) Reception of Foucault by American Feminist Theorists, (3) Reception of Foucault by American Queer Theorists, and (4) Reception of Foucault by American Continental Philosophers. There can be no more than six students per group. For more on this assignment, check the assignments page.

September 19:
Group Meetings. Class will meet in Boatwright Library Computer Classroom.

September 24:
Foucault, "Truth and Juridical Forms," in Power: Essential Writings III, 1-16; First Annotation Due!

September 26:
Foucault, "Truth and Juridical Forms," in Power, 16-52.

October 1:
Foucault, "Truth and Juridical Forms," in Power, 52-87. Students may want to supplement this reading with more on Jeremy Bentham's panopticon in Foucault, "The Eye of Power," in Power/Knowledge, . Second Annotation Due!

October 3:
Foucault, "On the Concept of the Dangerous Individual in Nineteenth-Century Psychiatric Discourse," in Power, 176-200, and Foucault, "Questions of Method," in Power, 223-233. Third Annotation and Full Bibliography Due!

October 8:
Group Meetings. The reading assignment for the day consists of the annotations and bibliographies of fellow group members.

October 10:
Exam!

October 15:
NO CLASS: Fall Break! (Also Foucault's birthday, so celebrate appropriately.)

October 17:
Foucault, "Two Lectures," in Power/Knowledge, 78-108.

October 22:
Foucault, "The Subject and Power," in Power, 326-48.

October 24:
Foucault, "Sexuality and Solitude," in Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth, 175-84, and Foucault, "Technologies of the Self," in Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth, 223-51. Book Review Due!

October 29:
Foucault, "On the Genealogy of Ethics," in Ethics, Subjectivity, and Truth, 253-80.

October 31:
Group Meetings. The reading assignment for this day consists in the book reviews of fellow group members.

November 5:
Foucault, "Ethics of Concern for Self as a Practice of Freedom," in Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth, 281-301. Term Paper Topics Due!

November 7:
Foucault, "Introduction to The History of Sexuality, Vol. 2," in Ethics, Subjectivity, and Truth, 199-205, and Foucault, The Use of Pleasure, 3-93.

November 12:
Foucault, The Use of Pleasure, 97-184.

November 14:
Foucault, The Use of Pleasure, 187-254. Proposed reading assignments for the class for group presentation days due!

November 19:
Group Presentations from American Left. Reading assignment is one article: "Foucault on Freedom and Truth."

November 21:
Group Presentations from Queer Theorists. Reading assignments are two articles: "Foucault: Virgin or Saint" and "Desiring Foucault." Term Paper Bibliographies Due!

November 26:
Foucault, "Friendship as a Way of Life" and "Sex, Power, and the Politics of Identity," in Ethics, Subjectivity, and Truth, 135-40 and 163-73 respectively.

November 28:
NO CLASS: Thanksgiving!

December 3:
Foucault, "What is Enlightenment?" (available online in both English and French) and in Ethics, Subjectivity, and Truth, 303-19. You may also want to listen to Foucault present his paper "The Culture of the Self" as a related piece of work. It is in English and runs just over one hour. Refined thesis and outline due!

December 5:
Wrap Up Day.

December 13:
Term Paper Due by 2:00!