Experimental Norms: Power–Knowledge, Bare Life and Medical Trials

Abstract

Humans experimenting on other humans sits precisely at the junction of law, technology and the humanities, synthesising descriptive, normative and creative elements in relation to reality. Experiments describe reality, normalise shared conceptions of reality as well as create their own reality. Human experiments consequently inflect both ‘norm’ and ‘humanity’ as a pattern or as a model, or even a standard to be met or fulfilled. Experiments abound in Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s body of work, including where he engages with the capacity for development of Michel Foucault’s opus. This is particularly so when Agamben explicitly addresses questions and criticisms surrounding his own methodology.