What is Modernity? Foucault, Governmentality, & the Plague

What is modernity? I look at this question through my previous video - the Shock of Modernity - and my next video - the Fist of Modernity - and ask how we can think about the vague term and how it applies to the current COVID-19 pandemic. I take a brief look at Foucault's comments on the Plague during the 17th century and its place in the genealogy of governmentality, while thinking about contemporary issues like Viktor Orban in Hungary and authoritarianism in Russia.


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[ThenNow]

Apologies for the poor audio on this one, I need a new microphone. Hope you all enjoy regardless, let me know what you think of this format! Have a restful weekend.

[matthewmacdonaldchannel]

Had to stop the video short to type this before something silly hijacked my attention. I am relatively new to your channel, brought here by the hallowed algorithm, likely due to the buckets of philosophy-centric content I gorge myself on.

Your work is fantastic, sir, and as much as I enjoy the full-production pieces, these plague-themed recent videos are by far my favorite. You are perhaps better at straight-up vlogging than you’ve realized; I am never not gripped by your assured tone and dashes of topic-adjacent humor.

I have recently begun my own content odyssey, with a focus on my long (sometimes too long) journeys through various stages of mental health care, sobriety & recovery institutions, and the genuine weirdness of much of my life, corroborated by friends and family members to show that I’m not a one-upper (yuck) or confabulating (ick) my stories. You are an influence and an inspiration, and I thank you deeply.

So please, carry on with what feels best, and know that some of us really enjoy your forays into more direct communication (my phone carries around podcast versions of Then & Now to keep me sane on the crazymaking mazes of Southern California roads).

Oh, final thing... would you ever consider talking about the work of Ray Brassier and his “we are already extinct” axiom? It’s nihilism with the throttle nearly melted into slag, but interesting nonetheless.

At any rate, cheers from an American fan. :)

[liamsibai]

love the idea of follow up discussion episodes

[beejash]

I’ve really been enjoying these lockdown chats, keep it up!

[uncharted]

I think your previous format works better as you select thoughts more carefully as what should be needed in such discussions! Thanks!

[stuarthicks]

I like the informal Covid presentation. The audio the only thing that’s a slight distraction. Still great stuff.

[danilthorstensson]

David Harvey is excellent on this topic. “The Condition of Postmodernity” is great in tracing the lineage of modernity.

[sba]

Westworld's recent season comes to mind when talking about Foucault

[TheSienn]

I really like the discussions/debriefings! Maybe monthly or bi monthly wrapping up your Videos?

[avicennam]

Great video like the chilled atmosphere

[GhostSinatra]

What are your thoughts on Jordan Petersons critique of post-modern philosophers like Derrida and Foucault? Do you think everything is as simple as a power game?

[maxwaller]

*¡Paul-Michel Foucault (1926 - 1984)!* - 3:35 am Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, 13 February 2022

[FERGahDsSAK]

These are awesome. You are awesome. Love ya, stay safe, all the things.

[MexTexican]

You are so brilliant. How do you know all that you do? Are you an academic person? Thank you for this and for all your videos. Yes I like the informal format.

[GhostSinatra]

I've learned a lot from your videos! Please keep em coming! 😁🔥

[roxannephillips]

Thanks for the videos and the channel in general - in light of the times we live in, breaking down complex thought and making it more accessible is a really important task to be engaging in.
Since you mention governmentality, a term Foucault coined quite a number of years after feeling he had come to an impasse concerning how individuals could exercise any type of freedom in a panoptical system, I was wondering how you would put the modernity he contours in 'Discipline and Punish' into relation to his later works. Especially his reflections on critique and on the modernity project of Enlightenment as he discusses it in 'Qu'est-ce que les lumières' from the early 80s - where he seems to slip into an unusual optimism about the ability to create change that baffles me in light of his earlier publications.

[jedimeso]

Just a correction, you keep saying Charles Beard, instead of George Beard. I think it also happened in the video on the shock of modernity. Other than that great content. Really helped me a lot!

[christianmcateer]

Really like your videos. I'm studying history at university and they're more engaging and varied than my lectures. Can I ask what you do? Is it associated with history? understand if you don't feel comfortable sharing :) keep up the good stuff !

[MrStranger]

This was great. As soon as this pandemic hit I immediately thought of that short section in Discipline and Punish and went back to reread it. I felt like you did an adequate job of explaining it and making it relevant to present day circumstances.

[Wkumar]

Excellent video that explains the root of the concept of modernity.