The Tension Between Rational And Irrational:a Study Based On Foucault’s Madness And Civilization

"Rationality and irrationality" is an important issue in Foucault’s thought,and more specifically a critique of various conceptions of rationality.These notions of rationality have prevailed in Western thought for a considerable period of time since the Enlightenment.Foucault’s work,Madness and Civilization,aims to break this deep unity of thought and the dominance of reason.As a starting point for Foucault’s thought,Madness and Civilization reveals the intricate interplay between madness and reason.Through an analysis of the historical discontinuity and truth-constructive perspective of madness,the book opens the door to the subversion of reason.This thesis consists of five main parts:The first is the introductory section,which focuses on the objectives and significance of the study,exploring the current state of research both at home and abroad,as well as refining the ideas and methods of the study.Chapter 1,the history of the development of rationality and irrationality in the west is reviewed in different historical periods.From the ancient Greek period to modern times,rational thinking has undergone a transformation from natural reason to religious reason to scientific reason,and correspondingly,irrationality has taken on different states in different historical periods,and this continuous change is the source of understanding the "rational-irrational" relationship.The ancient Greek period was the origin of rational thinking in the West,during which people were mainly concerned with the nature of the object world and the subject itself,and formed natural reason through observation and reasoning;while irrationality was mixed with reason and expressed a chaotic and unified relationship in the form of intuition and images.stage.In the Middle Ages,religious reason gradually rose to prominence,and the philosophers of the Scriptures attempted to obtain explanations of theology and doctrine through rational means of thought.However,logical and rational deduction could not prove the existence of God or the reality of religious belief,and mystical,sensual faith ultimately ran counter to discursive rationalism.With the advent of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment,scientific reason gradually emerged,a period that emphasized the importance of reason and empirical evidence as the primary means of acquiring truth,and the legislative power of reason continued to be pushed into all areas of human life;however,with the rapid development of modern technology and man’s growing awareness of the complexity of the world,the damage done to man by reason was finally confronted,and the influence of irrationality gradually began to grow again,and human emotion,subjective experience,was seen as a factor controlled by more than just rational thought,which challenged the then scientifically rational dominated system of thought.Thus,rationality and irrationality have not been independent and antagonistic to each other throughout history,but have interacted and influenced each other.The changing status and influence of rationality and irrationality in different historical periods reflects the complex interaction of multiple factors between social power and discourse at the time.This ever-present,interdependent relationship forms a dynamic equilibrium and constitutes the essence of the tense relationship between the two.The interplay and checks and balances between the rational and the irrational have shaped the complex dynamics of cultural,social and intellectual development throughout history.Chapter 2,provides a specific interpretation of the existence of a tension between the rational and the irrational that Foucault discusses in Madness and Civilization.Foucault excavates ’madness’ from the margins of history and archaeologises it as the problematic domain of his intellectual research,and the understanding of the relationship between power,knowledge and discourse that emerges from it constitutes a tributary of the changing development of reason and irrationality.The fate of madness is the truest presentation of the tension between the irrational and the rational.For Foucault,madness is not a natural physical aspect of illness,but a product of history.Under the dominant discourse of reason,madness came to stand in opposition to reason and morality step by step,through four main stages.Firstly,in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,madness was not yet seen as a disease,or even as a mystical revelation of truth,with any moral problems,and was not a representative of irrationality;there was no dichotomy between reason and irrationality at that time.Secondly,the end of the Middle Ages,the Renaissance,the Reformation and the Enlightenment that ushered in Europe,ushered in the rise of reason,represented by Descartes,the rationalist philosophers who established the discourse and intellectual dominance of reason,pitting the rational against the irrational,which was seen as an irrational phenomenon,while the disappearance of leprosy in Europe and the fear of death in people’s minds remained intact.And insanity gradually filled this gap,insanity became synonymous with fear on the one hand,and at the same time was slowly seen as a kind of irrationality,exiled and expelled.Then,in an attempt to rationalize the perception of madness,it was gradually labelled as moral corruption and human depravity.A rational,logically self-consistent discourse was thus established,in which madness was an irrationality,caused by moral corruption,and a sign of human depravity.The insane thus need to redeem themselves,and redemption comes,for example,through brutal labour,or by moral purification,which is interspersed with the war,economic and political factors of the time.In the end,reason triumphed and the irrationality represented by madness was declared a complete failure,and madness was rationalized as a mental and psychological illness that needed to be treated.Chapter 3,illustrates how Foucault’s analysis of the tension relationship between the rational and the irrational is valuable in literary practice."Insanity is the initial focus of Foucault’s academic career,from which he continues to open up new paths of power,knowledge and discourse,constructing problematized fields that make alternative thinking possible.It is here that we can see how the irrational is drawn into the battlefield with the rational,surviving in a constant confrontation.This section focuses on how this tension operates in literary practice,and what its effects are.With the bankruptcy of Enlightenment rationality and the prevalence of consumer culture,human beings have reached a situation where they are worried about their state of existence,and the expectation of literature is a new impetus arising from the impact of the source and flow of the tension between rationality and irrationality,and people expect that new variables may be found in literature.Although Foucault did not have a complete theory of literature,he never rejected the observation of literature and left insights in different theoretical periods.He saw literature as a way of producing and resisting discourses about power and discourse,seeing it as a way of expressing and shaping relations of power,but also as a tool for challenging and resisting it.The power of literature lies in its ability to challenge and transform existing structures of power by creating new discourses and contexts.Foucault saw literature as a discourse containing various historical and cultural elements,a product of cultural construction.By deconstructing and recombining these discourses and cultural elements,literature can create new meanings and values that challenge and transform established power relations.This understanding of literature by Foucault undoubtedly places an emphasis on the possibilities that literature brings,and at the same time,echoes theories of literary creation,reading and criticism,giving birth to new vitality.The concluding section summarizes Foucault’s study of the rational-irrational tension and attempts to evaluate this idea.