Constructing Foucault's Ethics (Paperback)

Mark Olssen

ISBN 10: 1526176270 / ISBN 13: 9781526176271

Published by Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2024

About this Item

Paperback. The work of Michel Foucault has had a huge influence on contemporary philosophy, but one thing it lacks is a normative ethical framework. Taking the late 'ethical turn' in the philosopher's thought as its starting point, this ambitious study seeks to construct an ethics beyond anything Foucault ever attempted while remaining consistent with his core postulates. In doing so it advances the concept of 'life continuance', which expresses a normative orientation to the future in terms of the quest for survival and well-being, giving rise to irreducible normative values as part of the discursive order of events. This approach is explored in contrast with a range of other, established systems, from the Kantian to the Marxist to contract ethics and utilitarianism. The work of Michel Foucault has had a huge influence on contemporary philosophy, but one thing it lacks is a normative ethical framework. Seeking to construct an ethics consistent with Foucault's core postulates, this study advances the concept of 'life continuance', an approach it contrasts with a range of other, established systems. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781526176271

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Constructing Foucault's Ethics (Paperback)
• Publisher: Manchester University Press, Manchester
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1526176270
• ISBN 13: 9781526176271
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In popularising the term ‘speaking truth to power’, Michel Foucault established the basis upon which a new ethics can be constructed. This is the thesis that Mark Olssen advances in Constructing Foucault’s ethics. Olssen not only ‘speaks truth’ to existing moral and ethical theories that have dominated western philosophy since Plato, but also shows how an alternative ethical and moral theory can be established that avoids the pitfalls of postmodern relativism while grounding ethical, moral and political discourse for the present age.
Taking the late ‘ethical turn’ in the philosopher’s thought as its starting point, this ambitious study seeks to construct an ethics beyond anything Foucault ever attempted while remaining consistent with his core postulates. It advances the concept of ‘life continuance’, which expresses a normative orientation to the future in terms of the quest for survival and well-being, giving rise to irreducible normative values as part of the discursive order of events. This approach is explored in contrast with a range of other, established systems, from the Kantian to the Marxist, contract ethics and utilitarianism.

About the Author

Mark Olssen is Emeritus Professor of Political Theory and Higher Education Policy in the Department of Politics at the University of Surrey