What has become of critique when someone as eminent as…
““What has become of critique when someone as eminent as Stanley Fish, the “enemy of promises” as Lindsay Waters calls him, believes he defends science studies, my field, by comparing the laws of physics to the rules of baseball? What has become of critique when there is a whole industry denying that the Apollo program landed on the moon? What has become of critique when DARPA uses for its Total Information Awareness project the Baconian slogan Scientia est potentia? Didn’t I read that somewhere in Michel Foucault? Has knowledge-slash-power been co-opted of late by the National Security Agency? Has Discipline and Punish become the bedtime reading of Mr. Ridge?””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Critique is undermined when scientific authority is equated with unrelated domains, and when knowledge is co‑opted by power structures like security agencies.
In simple terms: Critique weakens when science is misapplied or politicized.
Key Takeaway
Question the alignment of authority and knowledge.
Themes
science
critique
power structures
Mood
skeptical
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
critical
When to use this quote
- policy analysis
- media literacy
- academic discourse
Key Concepts
Authority misuse
political co‑optation
Questions to Reflect On
- What safeguards protect critique from co‑optation?
- How can we maintain independent scientific critique?
A Different Perspective
Critique can become complacent if it accepts dominant narratives.