The Body in Philosophy: An Account on Discipline and Punish

LENGTH: 4-5 pages
PROMPT: In Discipline and Punish Foucault distinguishes two registers of the modern machine-body: the “anatomico-metaphysical” and the “technico-political.” Drawing on the readings covered in class (Descartes, Leder, Schiebinger, Foucault) give an account of each of these registers. Given your account, do you think they can or should be ultimately understood as separate?
HINTS: Using the materials at your disposal please present your analysis as CLEARLY, PRECISELY, and COMPREHENSIVELY as possible given the length constraints. Don’t just speculate or make easy comparisons (“ I think Plato could have meant x and such.” “This reminds me of Freud.” “This is like an episode of Game of Thrones.”) Provide reasons and evidence for your interpretive choices (“I think Descartes meant x because that would be consistent with y and helps to explain z”). If you do use an example from outside the text make sure it performs an active, illustrative function that helps to explain the point you are trying to make.
You should generate your account from, and continually support it with, specific passages from the text(s) you are discussing. When you quote a text, make sure you do so for a good reason. Introduce the quote and make clear what role it is playing in your exposition.
· Your paper will be graded according to the following general criteria:
1) A clear, precise, comprehensive analytical explanation of the piece you choose, including a clear conception of the author’s understanding of the body.
2) Sufficient textual evidence to support your account.
3) Well-written prose, correct grammar and syntax.
Most simply, if your paper has all three of these criteria, it will receive some form of an A; if it has only two, it will receive some form of a B; if it has only one, it will receive a C or less.
· Importantly, your paper must be your own work; plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please see me if you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism.
Nuts and Bolts
· Papers should be typed and double spaced with 1 inch margins on the top and bottom and 1 inch margins on the sides.
· The font should be of a standard type of either 11 or 12 point.
· The pages should be numbered. You should start typing at the top of the first page.
· Your name and the title of your paper should be either on a separate title page (not numbered) or should take up no more than two lines at the very top of your first page.
· Your paper must be carefully proofread. Give yourself enough time, after you think you have finished your paper, to re-read it and to proofread it. You might even try reading your paper out loud; sometimes you can hear mistakes or confusions that you otherwise did not notice.
· You should be sure that you have written full, complete, grammatical sentences, and that you have logical transitions between paragraphs and between ideas.
· Generally, use MLA style. Among other things, this means using in-text citations. Give the number of the page from which the passage comes in parentheses after the passage, in the following format: "This is a quotation" (Title, 23). Do not use the abbreviations "pg." or "p." within the parentheses, and place any punctuation before the parenthetical citation. Quotations of more that 4 lines should be single-spaced and double-indented, without quotation marks. Book titles should be underlined or in italics. Chapter or article titles should be in plain text within quotation marks. Be sure to include a list of works cited on a separate page. An online guide to MLA style can be found here http://owl(dot)english(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/resource/747/02/.
In Discipline and Punish Foucault distinguishes two registers of the modern machine-body: the “anatomico-metaphysical” and the “technico-political.” Drawing on the readings covered in class (Descartes, Leder, Schiebinger, Foucault) give an account of each of these registers. Given your account, do you think they can or should be ultimately understood as separate.