Foucault and Plato in Texas

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra 

In January 2026, Texas A&M University instructed a philosophy professor to remove specific readings by Plato from an introductory course to comply with new state-influenced university policies. 

The removal is rooted in the following factors:

• Policy Against "Gender Ideology": The Texas A&M Board of Regents approved a revised policy (Section 8.01) in late 2025 prohibiting core academic courses from advocating for "race or gender ideology".
• Targeted Text: Professor Martin Peterson was told to remove excerpts from Plato’s Symposium. Administrators flagged passages such as "Aristophanes' Myth of the Split Humans" and "Diotima's Ladder of Love," which discuss homosexuality as natural and suggest the existence of more than two genders.
• Compliance Audit: University leadership utilized AI software to audit syllabi for keywords related to race and gender. Over 200 courses were reportedly flagged or canceled as part of this review process.
• Administrative Ultimatum: Peterson was given the choice to either "mitigate" the content by removing the Plato readings or be reassigned to teach a different course. He ultimately replaced the censored sections with lectures on academic freedom and free speech. 

The university has maintained that this is not a universal ban on Plato, noting that his works will still be taught in other courses where they do not touch on restricted ideologies. However, the move has drawn significant criticism from organizations like the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and FIRE, who view it as a violation of academic freedom. 

- GoogleAI 

While both cases involve the removal of foundational classical texts from academic curricula, the motivations and agents behind these decisions in early 2026 are distinct.

Comparison of the Two Controversies

Feature	Plato at Texas A&M (USA)	Manusmriti in India  (e.g., DU)
Primary Reason for Removal	Content Advocacy: Flagged for "gender ideology" (e.g., naturalizing homosexuality) under new state-influenced policies.	Social Justice: Protested for institutionalizing caste discrimination and gender inequality.
Driving Force	Administrative/Legislative: Driven by university board policies and state laws targeting specific "ideological" content.	Activist/Faculty: Driven by student and faculty protests viewing the text as a "charter of slavery".
Historical Context	Part of a broader 2025–2026 audit of syllabi to align with anti-"woke" legislation.	Long-standing opposition since Ambedkar's 1927 burning of the text; recent 2025 removals followed its re-introduction.

Key Philosophical Parallels

Despite different political drivers, scholars often compare the two texts in a comparative political philosophy context:

• Idealized Hierarchy: Both Plato’s Republic and the 
  Manusmriti
   outline rigid social orders where individuals are assigned roles based on inherent nature or birth (e.g., Plato’s "Noble Lie" vs. the Varna system).
• Rule by Knowledge: Both advocate for a ruling class defined by superior knowledge—Plato’s "Philosopher-Kings" and the Manusmriti’s emphasis on Brahminical guidance for the King.
• Criticism of Inequality: Both face modern criticism for being incompatible with democratic values of equality and individual freedom. 

Recent 2025-2026 Context

• India: In June 2025, Delhi University removed the 
  Manusmriti
   from its Sanskrit and Law syllabi following intense protests that argued the text should not be a "primary" or "recommended" reading. However, it continues to be cited in other arenas, such as a January 2026 Supreme Court case where it was referenced to underline familial duties in inheritance.
• USA: The removal of Plato at Texas A&M in January 2026 is specifically linked to passages in the Symposium that depict non-binary gender roles or same-sex love, which administrators categorized as prohibited "gender ideology". 

- GoogleAI 

In January 2026, the administrative instruction for a Texas A&M professor to remove Plato’s Symposium from an introductory course provides a vivid modern case study for a Foucauldian analysis of power and knowledge.

Based on his established theories, Michel Foucault would likely react to the Plato episode through the following lenses:

1. The "Repressive Hypothesis" and Productive Power

Foucault famously challenged the "repressive hypothesis"—the idea that power primarily works by "saying no" or silencing subjects.

• The Reaction: He would argue that the 2026 removal of Plato is not a simple disappearance of ideas but a productive exercise of power. By flagging these texts as "gender ideology," the university creates a new category of "forbidden knowledge," which paradoxically intensifies the focus on those very ideas.
• The "Speaker’s Benefit": Foucault might note that by banning Plato, the administration has granted the text a "speaker’s benefit"—making the act of reading Plato a transgressive, and thus more attractive, political rebellion for students.

2. Power-Knowledge (Pouvoir-Savoir)

Foucault posited that knowledge is never neutral; it is always an effect of power relations.

• Administrative Oversight: He would view the university's use of AI software to audit syllabi as a modern form of surveillance. This "eye of power" doesn't just monitor; it shapes what is considered "legitimate" philosophical truth to align with the state's political rationality.
• The Disciplinary Regime: The ultimatum given to Professor Martin Peterson—comply or be reassigned—illustrates how disciplinary power functions through the threat of professional exclusion to produce "docile" faculty members.

3. Subjugated Knowledges and Parrhesia

In his later work, Foucault focused on Parrhesia (fearless speech) and the recovery of "subjugated knowledges".

• The Role of the Professor: Foucault would likely champion Peterson’s decision to replace the banned Plato readings with lectures on academic freedom as a form of parrhesia—speaking an uncomfortable truth to a powerful institution at personal risk.
• Ancient Ethics as Resistance: Foucault spent his final years studying ancient Greek texts, including Plato, as a way to find models of the "care of the self" that exist outside modern state control. He would see the removal of the Symposium as a direct attempt to cut off a historical source of alternative subjectivities that challenge modern, state-sanctioned norms of gender and sexuality.

4. Governmentality

Foucault would analyze this as a shift in governmentality—where the university acts as an apparatus of the state to "manage" the population's thoughts by curating the "regime of truth" in public education. The 2026 policy is not just about a book; it is about the institutional production of discourse and the regulation of what can be articulated in the public sphere.

- GoogleAI 

Yes, Michel Foucault was openly gay and spent much of his career and personal life challenging traditional social norms regarding sexuality. 

His personal experiences were deeply intertwined with his philosophical work:

• Lived Experience: Foucault had a long-term partner, Daniel Defert, for over 20 years until his death in 1984. He was also an active participant in gay subcultures in both France and the United States, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Activism: He was a vocal advocate for gay rights and a member of various activist groups in France that fought against the marginalization and discrimination of homosexuals.
• Philosophical Stance: Foucault did not view "homosexuality" as a natural, fixed identity but as a historical construct that emerged in the 19th century. He argued that scientific and medical discourses created the category of the "homosexual" to better monitor and regulate people.
• Cause of Death: Foucault died in June 1984 from complications related to HIV/AIDS. He was the first high-profile figure in France to die of the disease, and his death significantly impacted the public's awareness and activism surrounding the AIDS epidemic. 

In his later years, Foucault became fascinated by ancient Greek and Roman texts—including Plato’s work—because they offered a vision of sexuality that focused on ethics and pleasure rather than rigid moral categories or scientific classification. This is why he would have found the modern removal of Plato's discussions on same-sex love particularly significant. 

- GoogleAI 

Using Foucault to analyze the 2026 Texas A&M situation provides a sharp look at how power, surveillance, and the regulation of "knowledge" function in modern institutions.

• The Irony of History: Foucault turned to Plato in the 1980s to find a more "liberated" view of the self; in 2026, those same texts are being treated as "dangerous" or "subversive" by university administrators.
• The Digital Panopticon: Mentioning how AI software was used to scan syllabi at Texas A&M is the ultimate 21st-century realization of Foucault’s "Panopticon"—the idea that we are constantly being watched and therefore begin to "police" ourselves.
• Knowledge as a Tool: It highlights that even 2,400 years later, Plato's Symposium is still considered powerful enough to be seen as a threat to a state's ideological goals.

It bridges the gap between ancient philosophy, 20th-century critical theory, and the current political landscape of 2026.

- GoogleAI

Cognitive neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga takes this disorienting insight further. Through elegant experiments, he has shown that the mind is essentially a fiction-maker. The brain generates a coherent narrative sense of self from the microscopic fraction of its own activity that reaches consciousness, which is roughly 2%. Ninety-eight percent of what your brain does remains in shadow. Yet from that small visible portion, the mind weaves an intricate story: “I decide, I choose, I am continuous, I am in control.”

https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=5093790

Dear All, Please find attached the circular regarding Shraddhanjali on the 9th Punyatithi of Karuna Didi, to be observed on Monday, 26th January 2026 at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch. Kindly refer to the attachment for complete details. Regards, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi Branch

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