Present,Discourse and Subject: An Exploration of Foucault's Ontology of Discourse

The relationship between philosophy and the present is of paramount importance.An examination of this question necessitates an assessment of the Enlightenment's achievements,an investigation into the distinctiveness of philosophical discourse in its “now” positioning relative to other discourses,and an analysis of the trajectory of Western philosophy,the fate of the subject,and the end of metaphysics.Foucault not only championed the critical spirit embodied in Kant's Enlightenment thought when engaging in profound reflection upon the present,but also commended Nietzsche for being the first to conceive of philosophy as a diagnostic activity concerning what is happening now,viewing the philosopher as a diagnostician of actuality.Foucault's historical ontology describes all discourses that think,speak,and act upon the present,constitutes a philosophical diagnosis of the age,an ontology of discourse concerning our very selves.This ontology of discourse not only resolutely rejects Kantian anthropology,abstract humanism and the philosophy of transcendental subjectivity,but also bids a definitive farewell to any metaphysical system that claims scientific rigour while seeking universal values and universal truths.In short,contemporary philosophy must not only treat the ailments of the soul as ancient philosophy did,but more crucially diagnose and articulate the chronic maladies of our era,and grounding its philosophical reflection and pragmatic action in the real world and the technological realm.We are still minors now,and philosophers nowadays are still no cure-alls.