Scope of Mutual Transformation of Western and Non-Western Civilizations in Foucault’s Analysis

Abstract

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Both Hegel and Marx believe that non-Western world is not the natural part of dialectical process as non-Western cultures don‘t seem to take part in the process of historical development. So, the only way to turn the nonWestern as Western and vice versa is through an arbitrary process as might have serious implications. Foucault also believes that discourse developing within the Western civilization does not follow rules shared by all civilizations. The Western discourse is not the result of practical necessity, but of some historical rules called historical ‗a priori‖ only operative in the Western civilization. Modern historical a priori characterized by Foucault as ―man‖, is providing order to the things in the West. ―Man‖ conceived as a pre-requisite for contemporary Western discourse has its implications. This argument runs through The Order of Things. However, we also find an internal problem within Foucault‘s presentation which at the end provides a new platform for interpreting Foucault within the Foucaultian paradigm, with reference to the new notion of Western civilization. This gives a glimpse of hope for mutual transformation of the Western and the
non-Western civilizations.