Read the full article which is published on Philosophy Bits (external link)Firmly attached to a specific desire, my ability to see reality is occluded. My attention cannot reach what is happening in and around me, because I’m seeing everything through the lens of my desire and its possible satisfaction. I’m ignoring important information and putting too much emphasis on the evidence that supports my desire.
With my attention so heavily restricted, I can’t get an accurate picture of things, which means it’s easy for me to fall into delusion. This is especially true when the desire is intense and its object is present, which is often what happens when it involves another person. Sometimes these delusions are glaringly obvious, but often they are more subtle.
The most common subtle delusion in a relationship is to believe that an agreement has been reached when no such agreement actually exists. I believe that we have agreed that our relationship will go in a certain way, but we have not. It is my own attachment to a particular ideal of the relationship that has deluded me into thinking I’m living in this imaginary world when I’m actually living in another.
Poststructuralism as a Regime of Truth: Foucault and the Paradox of Philosophical Authority
Foucault’s critique of power and knowledge shaped poststructuralism, yet its rejection of truth risks becoming its own orthodoxy. To remain...
