Freud Foucault and Society

Aristotle once stated in Metaphysics that, "All men by nature desire Knowledge." If one accepts the claim that knowledge is power, then it will be logical to assert that all people want power. The person or persons that have knowledge also acquire the power of that knowledge. In Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish he clearly shows the power-knowledge relationship that is prevalent in society both on the large and small scale, and how these affect …

…the power-knowledge relationship. If society changes one thing, it will lead to an affect on something else. Therefore, we must remain aware of this power-knowledge relationship, so there is no hidden power relations. The individual will then be liberated in self-knowledge. As long as there are standards that we have to live by, there will always be hysteria in the individual, leading to the need for the discipline of psychotherapy and individuals like Sigmund Freud.