Critique as therapy : reflections on Foucault and Derrida

Abstract

Perhaps one of the most crucial philosophical questions to ask is "what is philosophy?" But, perhaps too, the possibility of asking that question points towards the fragmented nature of the enterprise. Through the shadows of Foucault and Derrida, I will try to show how this question is important since it continually expands the definition of philosophy, blurring its territorial boundaries in such a way that enables an otherwise-thought world, preventing philosophy from being another disciplinary regime. Since antiquity, philosophy's reliance on a notion of truth provided it with analytical leverage. Hence, by placing the currency of truth itself under scrutiny, it is claimed that thinkers like Foucault and Derrida risk undermining philosophical inquiry tout court, reducing philosophy to rhetoric or fiction, with no critical function whatsoever. What's more, because of this, no normative grounding can be extrapolated from their ideas, no emancipatory aim can be sought and no ethical framework can be pursued. Both FoucauIt and Derrida were often criticized along these lines (Habermas, 1987).