Recently, I've realized that knowing your blood type is more rare than not. I thought everybody knew but maybe I had overzealous parents, afraid I would end up in an accident and need a transfusion suddenly. At any rate, the Foucault reminded me of the de-emphasis we place on blood-as-signifer we have today versus days past.
Finding connections between the readings was difficult for me (probably because I still don’t think I quite “get” the Heidegger). I did find a spark in this quote from Foucault:
“Unlike discipline, which is addressed to bodies, the new nondisciplinary power is applied not to man as-body but to the living man, to man-as-living-being: ultimately, if you like, to man-as-species”. (p. 242, Foucault, Society Must Be Defended)
This got me thinking about Heidegger’s ideas of technology being divided into camps of utility (means to an end) and a human activity. It’s all a bit fuzzy but I can try to superimpose Foucault’s own separation:
“The disciplines of the body and the regulations of the population constituted the two poles around which the organization of power over life was deployed”. (p. 139, Foucault, Right of Death and Power over Life)
I’m trying to fit Heidegger’s idea of destining into the creepiness of biopower described by Foucault. It seems the lack of determination in one’s own life can lead to a loss of power and perhaps an over-determination by those in power (for example, Foucault mentions how we are able to keep people alive who should be long dead or how the control of population has provided the necessary means for capitalism to flourish).
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"biopower" seems to correspond to what Heidegger calls "standing-reserve," or what seems to be like a kind of stored resource, like stockpiled coal. If I remember right, he mentions that the term "human resources" coming into popular use was a sign of this.
ReplyDeleteThere was some news item recently talking about the virtual obsession with blood type in Japan these days. Certain blood types there are considered to be huge indicators of personality traits and even skill sets, and it is common to be asked your blood type at job interviews as well as by potential suitors. It's a trend (without any scientific basis) that was revived in the 1970s and is still going strong.
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