Foucault - Episteme > "Discourse"

. Episteme (216)- 

A grouping of statements that suggests a consistent pattern in how they function as constituents of a system of knowledge. An episteme may be a cultural code, characteristic system, structure, network, or ground of thought that governs the language, perception, values, and practices of an age.

2. Discursive formation (217)-

Foucault replaced the term "episteme" with this when he wrote The Archeology of Knowledge. Because he was not a structuralist, Foucault decided to abandon "episteme", and use a term that fit within his philosophy. This has the same meaning of "episteme".

Concerned initially with "Scientific Validity" c.f Truth Falsehood
Boundary between Qualitative and Quantitative


Foucault's style of writing has been described as "reckless, irritating and frequently unfathomable...and obscure."

2. Foucault uses deceptively ordinary words in ways that are highly specialized.

3. Foucault fails to take into account relevant bits of evidence to support the existence of a particular episteme or discursive formation.

4. Foucault ignores evidence that contradicts his thesis by overlooking the pre-nineteenth century writings of Aristotle, Locke and Vico.

5. Foucault's works has been criticized as being inconsistent.

B. Laudations

1. In his later writings, Foucault took on a more direct, down-to- earth style.

2. Foucault has been acclaimed for his writing's breadth and originality.

3. In his body of work, Foucault contributed greatly to rhetorical theory with his study of the speech act, discursive formation. and power.

http://bradley.bradley.edu/~ell/foucfft.htm

Perhaps an affect of  peoples readings being constituative but there seem wildly differing views on Foucaults effects

Best and Fairclough argue his structuralism dominates to a massive extent concluding he is  offering hardly anything in the way of practical agency in the context of such a deep critique

Others argue his claim that power works through individuals is not a structural consequence of enforced segmented subject positions but a type of freedom...(Refs - re technologies of the self) I am not sure this is what he meant... to think it is could be argued to be to fall into the trap of blaming the excluded for being excluded by a structure that is built on exclusion (on what theoretical foundation in post structural sense?) and benefits  privilege, legitimising the reproduction of the institution. Magnifying the lack of "validity" of the other in the mind of the included.. who project enough invalidity and identity onto the infinite potential (Barthes) of the  "text" excluded to validate their position as  modernist judges 

This is empasised by the focus on language systems as constructive...


Perhaps perfect autopoetic closed sustainable language games supporting life are possible, maybe they  abound, but  they can in effect become incrementally  artificial limbs denying the existence of the body (organs without bodies), closed discourse groups severing their life support replacing it with an artificial metric and exclusive language