The Ethics Of Foucault And Today - 1166 Words

Karlton Ruf Professor General Philosophy 28 June 2015 The Ethics of Foucault and Today Ethics has been studied from different spectrums throughout time whether political or moral based, a collective or individual effort, philosophers have studied theses values based on what is right and wrong. One thinker who is not commonly seen as a philosopher but referred to in countless works is Michel Foucault. Michel Foucault was a French historian and Philosopher and is known more for his works of â€Å"histories of medical and social sciences† (Gutting 1). This unique prospective and transition of his works as being looked at solely in his field of psychology and history to a philosophy perspective translate into his works. Foucault was a political†¦show more content†¦They are very similar in nature and depend on each other but ethics for him is greater than good and bad, his view of ethics is how we preserve our own actions and morality as our actions concerning others. His ethics revolve about freedom and liberty. As he states in Wain’s journal Foucau lt: the ethics of self creation and future of education â€Å"liberty is the ontological condition of ethics, but ethics is a deliberate form assumed by liberty† (163). Foucault was trying to state that to prevent someone’s freedoms is unethical as long as their action are not prohibiting the freedom of others. When an actions does prohibit others freedom then it is considered as unethical. Foucault idea of how to reach ethical outcomes by self observation can be problematic. As Foucault emphasizes to obtain freedom, one must have power. There are those with and without power in society, if this is so is it ethical that those without power are not granted freedom? There lack of freedom would be unethical making it hard for is theory to currently apply on a large scale without hypocrisy. His theory of ethics is based on individual self understanding because as stated by Mary Moore of the department of behavioral sciences at the University of Indianapolis, in her journal â€Å"Ethical Discourse and Foucault s Conception of Ethics† â€Å"ethics is thought to refer to the behavior of individuals because only the individual is the authentic moral