Folly by Another Name: Foucault and Lyotard on Knowledge

This paper attempts to study the nature and sig­
nificance of knowledge. He treats the subject from the per­
spectives of postmodern authors Foucault and Lyotard. The
paper discusses first the ideas of Foucault followed by
Lyotard’s understanding of knowledge. Then it tries to show
how their perspectives on knowledge affect the information-
knowledge distinction and their relevance for contemporary
society. Foucault’s and Lyotard’s extensive treatment of knowl­
edge rests on a very important principle, that is, knowledge is
necessarily a matter of social relation. They differ in their
view of what type of social relations underlies knowledge.
While for Foucault, it is power and techniques associated with
power, for Lyotard, it is related to the shifting language games.
. However it is quite clear from their analysis that the distinc­
tion between information and knowledge gets blurred in
postmodern perspectives. Knowledge is not pre-given or in­
ternalization through appropriation but is already and always 
interwoven with information we receive depending on our
social position and on the language game we are playing.