Foucaultian rights?

Abstract

One of the more provocative ideas put forward by the French neo-Nietzschean Michel Foucault is that of a new form of rights. To examine the coherence of this idea, I first discuss Foucault’s criticisms of traditional, liberal rights. Foucault argued that liberal rights are flawed in a number of ways, and several of his criticisms are plausible. Foucault’s rather meager textual explanations about how this new form of rights would work were also examined. The second half of the article is a discussion of the worth of Foucault’s proposal. Ultimately, I concluded that Foucault’s call for a new form of rights is philosophically flawed and that if it were attempted it would likely backfire and produce a more regimented society.