Foucault: Power, Knowledge and Post-structuralism

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Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

RIP Prof. Sugrue. He possessed two often incompatible traits: a great intellect and a great ability to teach.

[@dionysian222]

And he employed his gifts to fight nihilism.

[@jarrodanderson2124]

I can't thank you enough for uploading these videos. This is what the internet was made for.

[@JoseSanchez-zo5tb]

Made for your mother.

[@masihkamali3382]

@@user-kr4zw3ll1j ََشَشششش

[@ayelenzambrano122]

@@user-kr4zw3ll1j Ñññpñññññññpp0pppppppñ

[@amitwaghmare3863]

@@JoseSanchez-zo5tb and then internet crashed

[@JoseSanchez-zo5tb]

@@amitwaghmare3863 Only if you take it seriously.

[@derrickparra8734]

"Psychoanalyst diagnosis Foucalt's problem as homosexuality, Foucalt diagnosis the psychoanalyst problem as psychoanalysis" - Has to be one of the greatest comebacks I've ever heard.

[@thoughtheglass]

This is a good line, i really like the way sugure develps his rhetoric with stuff like this, but foucault was a pedophile as well. My impression is that if you introduce this idea first when you teach him, it's easier for students to understand why he was focused on these kinds of topics and a lot of his chains of thought

[@thoughtheglass]

@@zac_est.1990 6:20 ish

[@noor5x9]

@@thoughtheglass I think you're referring to a petition that he among many of the prominent french intellectuals of that time including Satre signed to have the age of consent lowered. I'm not aware of any evidence that Foucault himself was a pedophile. Why would you say such a thing?

[@TheRaveJunkie]

@@noor5x9 Because it's easier than to engage with what Foucault actually wrote.

[@DBSpeakers]

Doctor "you're gay", Foucault "your gaze..."

[@lev6502]

I am in the middle of my history degree, and Foucault is brought up a lot. His influence is felt a lot in any aspect of social or cultural history and you'll get a lot of use out of him in essays. I had a hard time wrapping my head around his work so this lecture really helped put it into perspective. Rest in peace, professor.

[@uthman9979]

didn't know he had passed on. RIP Dr Sugrue and thank you for leaving us these gems

[@thomasdequincey5811]

"The naked resentment and ambition of the intellectual class". That is a line to finish a lecture series on.

[@dustinwatkins7843]

Having grown up working class in a working class community I can assure you "naked resentment and ambition" are just as common among them. It's clearly exampled in the flaring, obnoxious, aggressive, souped up F250 diesel burnouts they'll do when the light changes. They're super masculine men, they've got somewhere to be. They just worked 2 weeks straight of hard manual labour and overtime and don't have the time or patience for these damn traffic lights or for anything at all to stand in their way, they're going to go berserk and charge to their destination in a fit of rage. Probably doing coke and steroids.

[@theneutralgroundpodcast]

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone to explain Postmodernism/Post structuralism with more clarity than this gentleman. Thank you for these.

[@maksman.maurice]

What should i do to internalise his teachings? What is your secret of learning from him...

[@theneutralgroundpodcast]

The best thing you can do is listen to Dr. Sugrue with an active mind. Great lectures aren't always about taking notes and trying to memorize dates and events. The best lecturers offer a controlled premise or a problem, then they try and excavate that premise with the audience. You're trying to better understand something together. So, as you're listening to him speak, answer back in your mind. Try to work through the concept with him. Don't get caught up in the specific dates necessarily--there is a time for that. Work through the ideas with him.

[@little_flitter]

Lmao, funny because this guy is so behind on this. Postmodernism is out of fashion in academia and has been for like 20 years now, if you want some good and more up to do date stuff try the philosophise this podcast.

[@little_flitter]

@Brandon Johnson buddy your out of date

[@garethreynolds557]

@@little_flitter Foucault is the most cited author in the humanities and social sciences so post-modernism is definitely not out of fashion. Perhaps you might argue though that Foucault is not truly post modernist, I might be inclined to agree. His work is not the same as Lyotard I suppose. Even if what you said was correct, it's still a meaningless comment nonetheless because these lectures are more than 20 years old.

[@anthonybrett]

"A hopeless attempt to evade nature" Love that line.

[@GhGh-gq8oo]

Left wing belief in a nutshell

[@holihsredlumednil6847]

@@GhGh-gq8oo we've made it this far. Keep plugging that fatalist defeatism and see how far it gets you.

[@Gobrech]

@@holihsredlumednil6847 you get to groom children now, but you're still going to be looking like a freak

[@Gobrech]

@@holihsredlumednil6847 cope for the rest for your miserable existence, internet comments will always be the only place people like you get to feel at home

[@Arthur-Gieves]

Can't believe I'm only discovering this man at 33 he's a master of deep thinking and then unpacking it beautifully.

[@ammar5878]

Digital Humanities at its best. Thank you professor for sharing your intellect with the public. It's the future and strength of humanities to share knowledge with and offer more space on the internet for those who cannot afford going to college.

[@mikexhotmail]

Wow. Indeed. I won't be surprised if he somehow actually an android.

[@ammar5878]

@@mikexhotmail not funny

[@mikexhotmail]

@@ammar5878 It's not a joke...more like a compliment.

[@flup1303]

@@mikexhotmailfunny

[@mikexhotmail]

@@flup1303 That's why we love DATA or Mr.Spock

[@builditwell]

Foucault and his millions of admirers are resoundingly rebuked in Sugrue's final sentence of this lecture. Amoral radicalism can only be a patsy for those with plans.

[@casteretpollux]

Very perceptive

[@jbauman1111]

This is a deadly and completely necessary critical examination of Foucault. Thank you, Mr. Sugrue!

[@rezamahan7109]

Thank you. I truly enjoy your lectures

[@markbuckingham649]

I’ve been waiting for this one. Thanks.

[@guilhermestein2593]

Thank you for the amazing lectures, professor.

[@lmathieu06]

Totally agree w Jarrod. Enjoying these greatly. Wish I’d discovered Prof Sugrue earlier!

[@allyourbase888]

Thank you Professor Sugrue. 🙏🏽

[@haticeaskar4715]

Really appreciate this video. Thank you for uploading!

[@corruptelites5600]

I'm in shock & awe , pretty sure I'll need to re-watch it, thank you for the lecture

[@luizs.f5305]

This is such a treasure! We can't thank you enough Prof. Michael🤝

[@objet_aa9492]

5:40 "the soul is the prison of the body" - your delivery, your energy is beyond my limited education. Thank you for showing me what topics of interest look like when someone shares my excitement of the topic.

[@the_famous_reply_guy]

The body an instrument for the soul so that the world may know what we are.

[@caz3474]

What an engaging and captivating speaker I love his diction

[@gulshanbanas1887]

Absolutely fantastic. Thanks!

[@oliverolonan2556]

He's a great professor! He presents ideas in a very clear manner!

[@shaunkerr8721]

The last idea of this video sums up the last 10 years.

[@Refr4me]

Thank you for these uploads. The recent videos at Bibliotheca Smartlibraries were so informative and interesting. I'd recommend anyone to those videos swell.

[@cool2rule2]

Superb. Thanks for uploading.

[@Kombo-Chapfika]

Thanks for the thoughtful and fair analysis.

[@araucariapasquale1]

Sensational. I was at the edge of my seat for the last 15 minutes.

[@jer1234ish]

This stuffs just incredible. The insane amount of hours I’ve spent on your lectures attest to that. Bravo sir.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

How many pre-enlightenment hours are equivalent to the post-enlightenment amount of crazy hours you’ve spent? Also, the units with which we measure time are social constructs.

[@sherlyyyythecaptain3929]

@@MarcosElMalo2 🤣🤣🤣

[@oasis700]

Same here

[@cheri238]

​@@oasis700 This is fantastic 👏

[@thetaeater]

Boom! post modernism cured in the last 5 minutes. I feel so alive after this, thank you.

[@82easyrider]

What an incredible teacher!

[@misterspino9646]

great lesson on focault, analyzed in depth but comprehensible. I dig the Dwight Schrute cosplay

[@MarcosElMalo2]

lol, this was how male academics dressed when I was in college in the 80s. I bet he’s wearing sneakers.

[@stellario82]

Very good lecture and spectacular end, which I much enjoyed!

[@cjtuffman8181]

I can't thank you enough for uploading g these videos

[@alirezatabrizi1851]

Jesus Christ! This man's insight is awe-inspiring. The way he closed the lecture made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

[@burnlikeneon4044]

Critical theory will not or cannot critique itself, lest it cease to exist. Now, in 2021, an administration has been installed on the purview of critical theory, and any criticism against said administration MUST be dismissed as misinformation, or "Enlightenment blackmail" as Foucault would have it. Scary times.

[@jamesfrancese6091]

@@burnlikeneon4044 lololololololololol

[@burnlikeneon4044]

@@jamesfrancese6091 you're laughing because you know it's true, not because I'm wrong, and you are rooting for destruction.

[@jamesfrancese6091]

@@burnlikeneon4044 lololololololooolololololol

[@shaunkerr8721]

Seriously. Man called the last 10 years on Western society in 92

[@StaticSilence1]

So glad I found this channel.

[@neggit2063]

I love listening to Michael Sugrue, in other words, I really enjoy his philosophical summaries.

[@pateazolut7970]

The criticisms are so heroic in the sense that, it all deconstructing the the concept of delegitimizing

[@turpinglipper9171]

This lecture has a real mid 1990's flavor to it. Foucault and Continental Philosophy has really taken off in English speaking countries since then. I'm sure a 2021 version by Prof Sugrue would be different to this. A nice time capsule. Very grateful, thank you. Fantastic channel.

[@unnecessaryapostrophe4047]

That philosophy is cancer

[@drainel9707]

if you check out his recent podcast on foucault he is actually much more critical, albeit un-rehearsed

[@Nisfornarwhal1990]

I was listening to Foucault's 'abolish prisons' point and thinking about the current discourse in America right now

[@TheLuckster4]

@@drainel9707 what’s the podcast called?

[@drainel9707]

@@TheLuckster4 The Idea Store

[@tawniarose2912]

I cannot begin to count how many hours I have spent watching your lectures on a wide variety of ideas Professor Sugrue, nor thank you enough. As a philosophy grad student, you have helped clarify many complex issues as well as pointed out connections that have greatly contributed to my enjoyment and understanding.

[@retarazao9600]

Sugrue is my kind of teacher. And I don't often like teachers. A lighthouse. Thank you.

[@alohaoliwa]

Ending was straight up triumphant! What a talk. Like everyone else, I'm celebrating having access to this treasure!!

[@dadadissident]

Yes, the whole lecture was basically an exercise of the power and will of Michael Sugrue by constructing a straw man then burning it down.

[@Nick-qf7vt]

​@@dadadissidentyou done being a pedo apologist?

[@Gobrech]

​@@dadadissident It's amusing how you managed to sidestep any real effort in explaining yourself, all the while basking in the delusion of intellectual superiority that supposedly grants you exclusive insight. Everyone else is throwing around provocative smug comments without properly engaging with Foucault is hopelessly ignorant, irredeemable beyond a doubt, except you, while you're caught doing the same thing here with Sugrue's lecture. While others throw around fancy words without really engaging with Foucault's philosophy, you've chosen to stick to the point with Sugrue's lecture, carefully examining and explaining everything wrong with it. Nice to see someone getting straight to it instead of trying to sound impressive. Your keen discernment shines through amidst a sea of differing opinions. Why waste your brilliance on those who might struggle to appreciate it?

[@freyajas3509]

Thank you Professor for the deep insights..

[@27Pyth]

GREAT. Thank you for uploading.

[@ianjones2068]

Considering the current state of western education, this is one of the most enlightening and important lectures I have ever seen.

[@fromeveryting29]

What do you mean about the "state of western education"?

[@pickinstone]

@@fromeveryting29 You know, the same song as "these kids today don't get _______." In other words, a lazy blanket statement about education based off of cursory glances at subjective statistics that fit an easy narrative. As an educator myself, I take offense. As a perpetual student, I raise my arms and get into boxing stance. I think Mr. Sugrue would too ;)

[@judo_bosspaesano7587]

totally cool lecture, happy we can watch stuff like this

[@julieyanma]

Love this! The best thing happened to me at this juncture of my life! Forever inspired and grateful ❤

[@samuwhite1387]

I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thank you.

[@user-vv4lo5yz3h]

Brilliant lecture 🙏🙏

[@glenfarne1]

Thank you Dr Sugrue. So clear, yet unbiased.

[@drkissinger1]

That exchange with Habermas is so revealing. Habermas's objection is exactly the objection I had to Foucault when first exposed to him: isn't this kind of critique just a solvent you're choosing to apply to the things you don't like? Where is your moral desirability of freedom coming from? It's very odd to me that so many people aren't troubled by this.

[@shannonm.townsend1232]

Hmm

[@w4ris]

The problem with Habermas and many others are that they are still stuck on christian or other mystical moral theory. In Nietzchean secular moral theory here is no transgendent morality that is going to give answer like ”why is freedom desirable”. Pursuing freedom is therefore entirely about choise, not about morality. Or it can be though out that freedom is the default state and to give up freedom requires really good reason which there aren’t many for voluntarists.

[@elision2407]

Disturbing username, but I agree. -- If there's a moral desirability of freedom over coercion, surely prisons are defensible as a restriction on those who've deployed prohibited forms of coercion...

[@JamieEHILLS]

Thanks Professor!!

[@tacitdionysus3220]

Best exposition of Foucault I've ever heard. Very impressive indeed.

[@syedaliraza1494]

I owe you huge thanks for educating me with such a bewildering clarity.

[@idrissbenkacem5819]

Words are not enough to thank you.

[@lorenzogumier7646]

Humanity need more people like you

[@biniamabrha191]

love love,,,I feel so happy to see this

[@hambospictures]

Great lecture couldn’t have asked for anything more (apart from his swallowing made me want to cry)

[@michelelausdei5881]

very interesting and well taught thaank you for sharing

[@martinb.3348]

Thank you for these videos 💯💯🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@keshavnandhan1234]

This is a great video.

[@RR-vt3lj]

Very astute point about those using foucalt’s heroism to delegitimize others ideas at the same legitimizing their own has led to the me to era of delegitimizing any dialogue of differing views. Uncanny how clearly you the ramifications of this line of thought. A lot to mull over. Thank you.

[@RR-vt3lj]

@@zac_est.1990 bad habits are hard to break.

[@TruthTealler]

i appreciate this video.

[@liberate-america4482]

Very enjoyable watch.. Well done

[@ndindamule3134]

Very good summaries with good analysis

[@marcobrambilla2439]

Perfect lecture

[@billyscenic5610]

Thank you Dr. for this great introduction.

[@freemandela9073]

I like the idea that this guy is at the dinner table with his family and has just decided to go on a ramble about whatever he's been reading about to an uninterested family audience

[@kelechi_77]

story of my life, the only reason why I enjoy going to school, the only place where people listen

[@johnharold6743]

Incredible. Thank you for these videos, what a blessing

[@hamburgertrain6]

Thank you.

[@reviveramesh]

Wow - You are a great teacher. Such complicated thoughts and ideas like Foucault have been made very clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much. You are such a good speaker and with speak with clarity. I wonder how you prepare for such talks....Incredible...

[@vaughanvaughan3302]

This was so helpful!!!

[@philharmonic2251]

Excellent closing considering your lack of time!

[@rizwanraja2264]

Thank you so much for uploading these lectures

[@michiganvines]

I've always struggled with philosophy and most likely always will, but thank you for clarifying some things for me. I will read some of your suggested readings.

[@johnkrstyen7351]

Same I read it but some times have a failure of digesting it fully. Breakdowns such as this makes me go back reread it and have better understanding.

[@SpenSoar]

I miss you.

[@Marjeorglini]

Wow! Just wonderful

[@Reignor99]

I can fall asleep to these videos, and I can wake up to these videos. Expert.

[@debdasroy5032]

Excellent insights

[@evelcustom9864]

Wonderful lecture. I think one thing that we can learn from Foucault, and maybe why he's so influential, is that he demonstrated the tools to apply the Nietzschean deconstruction to the broader society. As you had described Renaissance as an age of analogy, he appears to be doing precisely that, taking Nietzsche's critique of religion, morality, and self, and finding analogous ways to deconstruct criminality, madness, sexuality, and the nature of reality as a whole.

[@aksumit4217]

"Women are half the world." "Perhaps not for Foucault."

[@ryans3001]

Thank You!

[@saraswatisky3119]

I studied all the critical theory philosophies as an undergraduate. The study opened so many doors of research and discoveries about consciousness, identity and society, particularly questions concerning power and the individual.

[@causesosasaidso6514]

Every time the mic picks up the sound of him swallowing, I fly into a fit of rage, then I feel ashamed at my irrational reaction and am immediately drawn back into the fascinating lecture. I remain entirely riveted until his inevitable next swig. Rinse and repeat. I can’t turn it off .

[@mentalitydesignvideo]

The logical fault that lies in the foundation of Foucauldian project (and invalidates it completely) is the introduction of this specter of "Freedom" which somehow opposes Power. If there's only Power and Power permeates everything, then the only thing that opposes Power is another Power. His "Freedom" is a complete non-entity conjured out of thin air. Schopenhauer (despite a grave mistake in his construction) was very clear and consistent on this subject: it's all Will struggling with itself via its various Representations. The only liberation Foucault offers or seeks is that of his own Power. And his life is the best testament to that.

[@Zlagie]

You made me exclaim "Yes!" Just now. What a wonderfully succinct comment.

[@Orgotheonemancult]

Holy shit. He destroys him in the last minute. And for people saying Sugrue LIKES Foucault in this lecture, he released a podcast I'm listening to right now where he calls him a "fucking monster" and "homicidal" for knowingly spreading HIV.

[@firstal3799]

You can dislike a man and like his views same time

[@anthonybrett]

@@firstal3799 Yes, his views were great. I'm still trying to get people to sign a petition so that underage sex with consenting children can be legalized, but everyone I approach calls me horrible. I have no idea why. I mean, whats so wrong with that?

[@casteretpollux]

Where canthis podcast be accessed?

[@Orgotheonemancult]

@@casteretpollux it's on spotify. The podcast is the "Idea Store" and it's the Foucault episode.

[@johnkrstyen7351]

​@@Orgotheonemancultthank you. Was going to ask for the podcast.

[@sunil.ppurushothaman1757]

Excellent.

[@battragon]

Great speaker.

[@sbfcapnj]

If Foucault were alive today, I wonder what he would actually make of the mass closures of state-run mental institutions and the legions of mentally ill that now occupy our homeless camps and prisons that those closures created. Also, allow me to echo the thanks that I'm reading in the other comments. Thank you for uploading this. That really is what the internet was meant to be.

[@anthonyestes740]

compared with the environment of mental asylums in the 18th century, homeless camps are healthier

[@scparker6893]

@@anthonyestes740 You seem to have jumped between the 18th Century and the modern day forgetting that mental facilities of higher quality existed in between these periods

[@alexanderverdieu9994]

@@scparker6893 bingo

[@pearz420]

If Foucault were alive today, he would be living in one of those camps.

[@sbfcapnj]

@@pearz420 Oof. Right on the money.

[@jimjohnhaywire]

This explains so much of today's discourse and the advancement of specific ideas like transhumanism.

[@Rusty-Shackleford69]

Sadly, yes.

[@JosephusAurelius]

Precisely

[@MrMarktrumble]

Thank you

[@dustinwatkins7843]

I like how in the screenshot Michael is doing the Greco-Roman prayer hand gesture. Lovely :)

[@juliuszsienkiewicz6239]

I saw some old SNL sketch right before watching this and because of the light and studio like scenery behind the guy I can't shake off the impression that he's about to say something funny and the audience will react with laughter xD

[@Anonymous-xm8ir]

Sounds like your baked bro

[@bakshev]

By Foucault's logic you can kick the shit out of him and take his money, and he can't sue you because he doesn't believe in crime.

[@johnkrstyen7351]

Have seen Dr. Sugrue videos recommended to me. Started watching them recently. Out of the 5 or 6 so far this one is different. The pace in which he talks seems to be a 2x speed of say Hegel, Aurelius, Nietzsche etc. Almost as if a madness and frustration with Foucault. I get the same thing when listening to Peterson, Lindsay, Boghossian etc also talk about Foucault. Almost as if there is some madness with in Foucault philosophy.

[@fisterklister]

This guy is great

[@markbuckingham649]

I hope your Dr Sugrue health is improving!

[@miguelserrano8154]

He died..

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

Dad said he's working on it.

[@markbuckingham649]

That’s good to know. Merry Christmas to you both, and thanks for the idea store ( I’m loving it).

[@andrews9719]

The professor’s synopsis that post modernism is a hopeless philosophy designed to defy nature is astonishingly acute and true. Although post modernism posits good questionings of meta narratives, it also fails to deconstruct science, logic, and nature.

[@karowkjo32]

Thank you professor for an accessible introduction to this very complicated mans thoughts 💭 your clarity and eloquence never cease to amaze me 👏🏻

[@Rusty-Shackleford69]

*A very sick man's thoughts.

[@LasArmas_]

^you are sick@@Rusty-Shackleford69

[@Rusty-Shackleford69]

@@LasArmas_ After looking at your comments, you aren't worth a response.🤭

[@LasArmas_]

@@Rusty-Shackleford69 but you responded. Proving my point

[@Rusty-Shackleford69]

@LasArmas_ Also, I'm WHITE, so I'm not like the usual suspects like burnt tires, lmfao!