Neo-Liberal Power: A Critical Analysis with Reference to Byung-Chul Han

The aim of this study is to put forward a critical analysis about the working of neo-liberal power in which we live with a specific reference to Byung Chul-Han. He claims that Foucault's consideration of bio-politics as a power which focuses on body falls behind to explain the relations of power in the contemporary neo-liberal order and the structure of individual and society. In order to overcome this shortcoming, Chul-Han claims that the power of neo-liberal order is a pschyo-politics which establishes its sovereignty by apply-ing pschyo-politic tools such as Big Data and therefore by influencing the hu-man soul. In this study, it is claimed that bio-politics hasn't gone out of the in-terest of power completely regarding the power practices during the process of Covid-19 pandemic which has continued over two years and that we don't wit-ness a power model in which only pschyo-politics works. In this regard, it is concluded that in the period in which we live, the power has a working which infleunces not only to the body but also to the soul and therefore which we can conceptualize as pschyo-somatics instead of the view of Foucault's bio-politics as Chul-Han understands or Chul-Han's psycho-politics.

Reading Covid-19 Pandemic in the Light of the Epistemology of Francis Bacon

This study aims to discuss the potential that the epistemology of Fran-cis Bacon has concerning our epistemic actions during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the study, it will be asserted that the thoughts-warnings-disclosures of Bacon on the subject of epistemology will contribute positively to our epistemic actions during the pandemic that we have been experiencing over the last two years. The study concludes that the epistemology of Bacon and especially his doctrine of idols has three positive interrelated contributions which are valid during the pan-demic. Firstly, it is understood that such an epistemology will give epistemic power to the individuals concerning to be able to see and understand the scien-tific realities that are different from the existing and established scientific con-sensus. Secondly, it is concluded that such epistemic power enables to have ep-istemic liberalization which makes it possible to pay attention to the different scientific knowledge during the pandemic. In this regard, it is concluded that we need to be liberated epistemically from the illusions that prevent us from making true judgments during the pandemic. Finally, we conclude that such a liberaliza-tion obtained by Bacon's epistemology helps us to have epistemic healing in that it shows us which scientific knowledge to value and explains the distinctive kinds of illusion forms in our epistemic actions.