Journal Entry "Antonio Gramsci" and "Truth and Power"

Journal Entry “Antonio Gramsci, from the Prison Notebooks”

Antonio Gramsci argues that everyone is a philosopher. Being a philosopher means when everyone carries ways of making sense of the world, also known as philosophies. These ideas and ways of sensing the world are fixed in us so deeply that we often cannot recognize them. Therefore, someone can act out one philosophy that contradicts with the one they believe in.

The author also mentions that it is important to destroy the widespread prejudice that philosophy is a strange and difficult thing just because it is the specific intellectual activity of a particular category of specialists (p. 59). This was interesting because I can relate as I definitely follow the prejudiced idea that philosophy is difficult. I even try to avoid taking philosophy classes that is offered at Davis just because I have the pre-disposed idea that it sounds too difficult and seems like a class that requires lots of knowledge. However, the author gave me a new perspective and way of thinking when he mentions that all men are philosophers as philosophy is a part of language, common sense and popular religion. Everybody is a philosopher in his or her own way and unconsciously.

A crucial question to consider is if it is better to think without a critical awareness and just following the ways imposed by the external environment or if it is better to be conscious and critical of one’s actions and thoughts of the world as they accept or reject certain things in the world (p. 59).i think that it is crucial for individuals to be constantly aware of their actions and thought and why they choose to believe and act a certain way. Following the ways imposed by higher beings or other external forces, does not allow one to live out ways they truly want to and believe in. In order to be critically aware, one must know oneself and also know the history and background. Critical understanding of self leads to hegemony. There is a constant struggle and battle between coercion and consensus in both the ethical and political fields. The author states that political power rests upon this cultural hegemony. We need to be conscious and aware and not be imposed from higher beings. We need to act and believe from the experiences and consciousness of people.

Journal Entry “Truth and Power”

Michel Foucault discusses the ideas of truth and power. He argues that truth is neither outside power nor is it lacking in power. He states that truth is the thing of this world. It is produced only by the virtue of multiple forms of constraint. And it includes regular effects of power” (p 42). This means that society has the capability of defining and creating truth. Each, society has its own truth and different rules and mechanisms that establishes and distinguishes truth. Therefore, there is no universal truth. As truth can constantly change and vary, it reminded me of the concept of culture discussed in class. Culture changes over time and is different for each individual. Similar to culture, truth varies and no individual can hold the universal truth. Foucault explains that truth should be understood as a “system of ordered procedures for the production, regulation, distribution, circulation and operation of statements” and it is linked to the ‘regime’ of truth, which is the system of power that produces and sustains truth (p 43).