The Notions Of Truth And Power In Foucault's Views On Society

So far in class, we have focused primarily on the work of Michel Foucault, a 20th century French philosopher. We have read excerpts from Discipline and Punish, Society Must be Defended, and Abnormal, all of which were written by Foucault. Over the course of reading the excerpts, I noticed that two themes have repeatedly appeared: truth and power. I will explain the role that these two themes play in Foucault’s society, how they are related to each other, and why they are particularly important. I will also talk about the roles that they play in our society today.

To get into what truth means in Foucault’s society, it is very important to note that in Foucault’s society, he specifies that there is no such thing as truth, but rather it is truth effect that really matters. This means that what is real and truthful is not important, but instead what appears to be real is what matters to Foucault. This truth effect is first discussed by Foucault in “The Body of the Condemned” when he says that even statements that are not grounded in truth may cause people to believe them when they carry a truth effect. This is also something that remains prevalent and true when looking at today’s society. It relates to the topic of “fake news” because there are articles that get published, especially online, and they aren’t always 100% truthful. Despite that, the name of the website that supplies the article gives it a truth effect that causes people to accept what they see as being factual.

To Foucault, power is only the end result of a chain, and that is the only scenario in which power can function or be exercised. As he says in Society Must be Defended, “Power must, I think, be analyzed as something that circulates, or rather as something that functions only when it is part of a chain.” (p. 29). This chain begins with knowledge, which creates a discourse that should have a truth effect, and in turn that truth effect is what creates power. This is Foucault’s explanation to say that power does not produce itself, or rather any average person can’t decide on a whim to exercise power. Power has to be the product of a truth effect in order to be able to be exercised. As Foucault puts it, “Power is exercised through networks, and individuals do not simply circulate in those networks; they are in a position to both submit to and exercise this power. They are never the inert or consenting targets ol power; they are always its relays. In other words, power passes through individuals. It is not applied to them” (p. 29). This means that people don’t unquestionably have power in any given situation, but instead it is the situation that determines whether a person has power or not. For example, an elementary school student is not able to exercise power over his guardians as there is no chain that causes a truth effect which would give him the power to boss his parents around. An example of a situation where someone would have power would be a professor having power over a student. The chain begins with a professor having knowledge of the subject that they are teaching, the truth effect is then created by that knowledge when it is backed by them holding a title as a professor or another official teaching position with the school, and the truth effect results in the power to grade the student’s work and it’s up to the student to do their work at a level that satisfies the professor. This power possessed by a professor only lies with them so long as they are teaching that class. If a different person were to teach the class and held the same title, they would have the same power. The title of professor itself is what holds power, while individual professors only relay that power.

One aspect of Foucault’s society in which truth and power play vital roles is the judicial system. In the justice system, everything is about grounding statements in truth to create a truth effect. This is why the justice system has evolved and expanded to include doctors and other professionals. When a doctor makes a statement about something that relates to an injury or whatever applies to their field of expertise, what they say carries more weight than if the same statement had been made by a random person off the street. Their qualifications and official title give them the power to potentially swing a case based on what they say. There can’t be power without a truth effect, and if a doctor is presenting his opinion on something, they have a strong truth effect that is grounded in the truth of their knowledge.

Another reason truth and power are so important in Foucault’s society is that they are prevalent almost everywhere. As Foucault says “The Body of the Condemned”, truth is a fundamental part of every discourse. This means that in almost every instance of communication between people, truth effect plays a role in determining how the conversation will go. Building off of this, in “The Spectacle of the Scaffold”, Foucault says that the main idea behind discourse is power. This connects back to his idea that power is the end result of a chain and comes after the truth effect in said chain. Another example of the importance that truth and power hold in Foucalt’s society is seen when he presents his triangle of power, right, and truth. He believed that we have to produce truth in the same way that we produce wealth, and that in order to produce wealth, we have to be able to produce truth. On power, he cautions that we don’t regard it as “a phenomenon of mass and homogeneous domination—the domination ol one individual over others, of one group over others, or of one class over others” (p. 29). This goes in hand with he was saying when he specified that power is something that only functions as part of a chain. As Foucault says, “Power is not something that is divided between those who have it and hold it exclusively, and those who do not have it and are sub|ect to it.” (p. 29). A third place that power appears in Foucault’s society is when he talks about the human body. In “Docile Bodies” from Discipline and Punish, he considers the body to be an object and a target of power. The body is manipulated, shaped, and trained to increase its forces.

One example that Foucault uses to show the importance of truth and power is when he discusses 17th century France as well as the Sovereign King in “The Spectacle of the Scaffold” from Discipline and Punish. When Foucault talks about execution, the relation it has to power is very apparent. He saw crime as something that upsets the natural order and challenges the sovereign’s power. In order to restore order and reaffirm power, the criminal had to be executed. But in order for this process to be effective, the execution had to be done publicly for people to be able to witness it. Also, the sovereign was present at executions as the sole master of the law, both as the power exacting vengeance and the power that could suspend it. The sovereign possessed this right to punish as an aspect of his right to make war on enemies. This means that when criminals commit their crimes, they don’t only threaten the order of society, but they also make themselves into an enemy of the state, and it is up to the sovereign to punish them and reestablish order. For a sovereign to be a rightful and truthful king, he had to protect society with the laws they already had. Foucault recognized that in order to be in power, you need not only knowledge, but it is also vital to have a truth effect. Although the sovereign and public execution no longer exist in today’s western society, the concept of criminals disrupting order and that order needing to be restored still very much apply. Instead of public executions, we now have a judicial system that is grounded in truth and truth effect and exercises its power in an attempt to restore order.

In conclusion, theme and power have been the two main themes that I’ve noticed so far from reading Michel Foucault’s works this semester. I explained how to Foucault, there is no such thing as truth, instead there is only truth effect. I also explained how power only functions when it is the end result of a chain that includes both knowledge and power, but not on its own. I connected truth and power when talking about the effect that they have on each other, specifically how a truth effect, which is a part of every discourse, creates power. I also used the judicial system and the sovereign king as examples for where the truth effect and power are widely on display and particularly vital components of society.

Works Cited:

1. Foucault, Michel. Abnormal. Verso Books, 2016.
2. Foucault, Michel. Society Must Be Defended. Point Par Point, 2006.
3. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. Vintage Books.