Foucault was born in 1926 and died in 1984 due to aids in France. He was a Catholic choir boy and ended as a social justice individual. Foucault draws from a wide range of disciplines such as; archaeology of pain, psychology, social theorist, and a constructionist. One of his main themes is institutional epistemology. In other words, we know what we know due to institutions we made. He takes an archaeology of knowledge approach and not history of ideas. This is so due to the fact that archaeology ignores history in regards to discourse. Foucault states that power is functional; through power one is able to get knowledge. Knowledge is what we know about something, and through knowledge an individual is able to discourse. Discourse is who speaks how he/she says it, in what context he/she says it, and what reactions does it make. This paper will focus on how power is present in our society and how it produces knowledge which then is able to produce discourse. On top of that how through Hitler one is able to see power.
There are several examples on how power produces knowledge and how knowledge then produces discourse such as a choir boy. A young boy is not able to go to a music school unless he has some kind of power of singing and his parents are able to pay for his school. If he attains a good voice and his parents are able to pay for his school he is then able to gain knowledge by his instructors and by him practicing his songs that he will perform at a concert. This young boy then is able to produce discourse by learning the song in which he also received help by his instructor and then is able to communicate his song to his audience. We are then able to understand how an individual must attain money, a personal attainment such as a good voice, knowledge, and then the ability to communicate the song to the audience. Therefore, power is at times given or one must gain it. Power then produces knowledge and then turns into a discourse just as this young boy did when he was singing his song to his public.
Foucault also mentions four main points about power. One, power is not an object because there are unequal relationships. Second, power is productive, it produces things. Third, power is both positive and negative, it can produce and destroy. Lastly power is intentional; power is guided for a goal. One example of this is Adolf Hitler; it is amazing how one individual is able to move thousands of people. Through his power he gain young adults to produce what he wanted which for me was just power. On top of all, his type of power is very negative he killed many individuals, and caused so much emotional pain to the nation. Adolf Hitler also caused pain to the young men he forced to take into his group to gain power of Germany. His power was intentional because it affected specific types of groups Jews, homosexuals, the physical and mentally disable among others. He wanted to expand Germany and get rid of many of the groups mentioned above. Hitler then is a great example of how power can be productive, he gain so many individuals to join his crew and produce so much harm to its opponents. Hitler produced a negative type of power and his power was intentional, he attacked specific groups to gain control and expand Germany.
Finally, power then is gain or at times given, with power one is able to produce knowledge and with knowledge one produces discourse. Power attains four main point which are; it is not an object, is productive, it can produce and destroy, and it is intentional. We are able to understand these two main points about power through the two examples given, one being with the choir boy and how he gets knowledge to produce his singing to the audience. And how Hitler produce negative power and killed so many lives of innocent people for his intentional purpose to gain power and expand Germany.