"You should not be afraid of beginnings; we are all here to show you that discourse belongs to the order of laws, that we have long been looking after its appearances; that a place has been made ready for it, a place which honors it but disarms it; and that if discourse may sometimes have some power, nevertheless it is from us alone that it gets it" (RT 1460-1461)
I chose this quote because Foucault's choice to personify the institution really encapsulates his views of it as this paternal shadow which casts itself onto us at an individual level and at a societal level. His views on discourse as the product and the mirror of social order really broadened my own perspective of where knowledge and opinions come from, even questioning my own... I think this quote and his overall tone pushes the reader to see their own ingenuity when thinking they are the creators of discourse.
Do you think knowledge can ever escape the institution or are we forever bound to be a reflector of the pressures and laws imposed onto us and what are some examples in our contemporary era?
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