Page 76 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 1-2: The Language of Neoliberal Education, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 76
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 1–2
poverty and the degeneration of life? Or, on the contrary, do they reveal
the fullness, strength and will of life, its courage, its confidence, its fu-
ture? (p. 4)
These are the questions that Nietzsche addresses to the discourse of
morality – not to the origin of morality but to the value of morality: ‘we
need a critique of moral values, the value of these values should itself, for
once, be examined’ (p. 7). Foucault presents Nietzsche as a philologist of
a certain kind--an investigation of concepts that is a philological geneal-
ogy that does not simply trace changing meanings of a term but exposes
the historically contingent origins of moral ideals and practices. As such
Nietzsche’s genealogy becomes a radical historicist critique that through
discursive shifts demonstrates the historically contingent nature of mor-
al concepts and categories that pretend to be transcendentally guaranteed
or universally given.
In this sense, Homo Oeconomicus is that philosophical term embed-
ded in the value of rationality, agency, individualism and self-interest that
crystallises the history of political economy and its succession of econom-
ic discourses leading to its revival as the main philosophical approach
to the subject and to the methodological calculus – political arithmetic
(William Petty’s term) – of neoliberalism as a political discourse.
References
Becker, G. (1962) Investment in human capital: a theoretical analysis. Joumal
of Political Economy, 70(5), Part 2: Investment in Human Beings (Oct.,
1962), pp. 9–49
Becker, G. (1964) Human Capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis with
special reference to education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Böckel, J.G. von (1677) Discursus Politicus de Societatis Civilis Primis
Elementis. Paul Zeising.
Burman, E. & Parker, I. [eds.] (1993) Discourse Analytic Research. London,
Routledge.
Descartes, R. (2009 [1635]) Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting
the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences. Auckland: Floating Press.
Dijk, T. van [ed.] (1985) Handbook of Discourse Analysis [4 volumes].
London: Academic Press.
Dijk, T van [ed.] (1997) Discourse Studies [2 volumes]. London: Sage.
Fairclough, N. (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Foucault, M. (1970) The Order of Discourse [L’Ordre du Discours]. In: R.
Young [ed.], Untying the Text. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
74
poverty and the degeneration of life? Or, on the contrary, do they reveal
the fullness, strength and will of life, its courage, its confidence, its fu-
ture? (p. 4)
These are the questions that Nietzsche addresses to the discourse of
morality – not to the origin of morality but to the value of morality: ‘we
need a critique of moral values, the value of these values should itself, for
once, be examined’ (p. 7). Foucault presents Nietzsche as a philologist of
a certain kind--an investigation of concepts that is a philological geneal-
ogy that does not simply trace changing meanings of a term but exposes
the historically contingent origins of moral ideals and practices. As such
Nietzsche’s genealogy becomes a radical historicist critique that through
discursive shifts demonstrates the historically contingent nature of mor-
al concepts and categories that pretend to be transcendentally guaranteed
or universally given.
In this sense, Homo Oeconomicus is that philosophical term embed-
ded in the value of rationality, agency, individualism and self-interest that
crystallises the history of political economy and its succession of econom-
ic discourses leading to its revival as the main philosophical approach
to the subject and to the methodological calculus – political arithmetic
(William Petty’s term) – of neoliberalism as a political discourse.
References
Becker, G. (1962) Investment in human capital: a theoretical analysis. Joumal
of Political Economy, 70(5), Part 2: Investment in Human Beings (Oct.,
1962), pp. 9–49
Becker, G. (1964) Human Capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis with
special reference to education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Böckel, J.G. von (1677) Discursus Politicus de Societatis Civilis Primis
Elementis. Paul Zeising.
Burman, E. & Parker, I. [eds.] (1993) Discourse Analytic Research. London,
Routledge.
Descartes, R. (2009 [1635]) Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting
the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences. Auckland: Floating Press.
Dijk, T. van [ed.] (1985) Handbook of Discourse Analysis [4 volumes].
London: Academic Press.
Dijk, T van [ed.] (1997) Discourse Studies [2 volumes]. London: Sage.
Fairclough, N. (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Foucault, M. (1970) The Order of Discourse [L’Ordre du Discours]. In: R.
Young [ed.], Untying the Text. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
74
