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Newly published lectures by Foucault on critique, Enlightenment,
and the care of the self. Â On May 27, 1978, Michel Foucault
gave a lecture to the French Society of Philosophy where he
redefines his entire philosophical project in light of Immanuel
Kant’s 1784 text, “What Is Enlightenment?†Foucault
strikingly characterizes critique as the political and moral
attitude consisting in the “art of not being governed
in this particular way,†one that performs the
function of destabilizing power relations and creating the space
for a new formation of the self within the “politics of truth.â€
 This volume presents the first critical edition of this
crucial lecture alongside a previously unpublished lecture about
the culture of the self and three public debates with Foucault at
the University of California, Berkeley in April 1983. There, for
the first time, Foucault establishes a direct connection between
his reflections on Enlightenment and his analyses of Greco-Roman
antiquity. However, far from suggesting a return to the ancient
culture of the self, Foucault invites his audience to build a
“new ethics†that bypasses the traditional references to
religion, law, and science.
This book makes available, for the first time in English, lectures
and interviews that Foucault gave in Japan in 1978, reconstructing
their context, and isolating the question of their singular
relevance for us today. In these forgotten lectures, in a free and
often informal style, Foucault explores, together with his Japanese
interlocutors, what it would mean to take up, from outside Europe,
the questions he was raising at the time about Revolution and
Enlightenment in the traditions of European critical thought. In a
series of wide-ranging discussions, on sexuality and its history,
non-Christian forms of spirituality, new forms of political
movements, and the role of knowledge, power, and truth in them,
Foucault examines these questions in relationship to Asia. He had
hoped these questions, very much debated at the time in post-war
Japan, would be the start of new forms of translation, publication
and exchange. At heart of the Lectures is thus a search for the
creation of a new sort of transnational collaboration, recasting
the history of European colonialism and opening to a philosophy, no
longer simply Western, yet to come. The Japan Lectures thus
contribute to the new scholarship in Asian and in translation
studies which have long since moved away from earlier ‘Area
Studies’; at the same time, they participate in the new
scholarship about Foucault’s own work and itinerary, following
the publication of an extraordinary wealth of materials left
unfinished or unpublished by his untimely death. In these ways, The
Japan Lectures help us to better see the implications of
Foucault’s work for philosophy in the twenty-first century.
This book makes available, for the first time in English, lectures
and interviews that Foucault gave in Japan in 1978, reconstructing
their context, and isolating the question of their singular
relevance for us today. In these forgotten lectures, in a free and
often informal style, Foucault explores, together with his Japanese
interlocutors, what it would mean to take up, from outside Europe,
the questions he was raising at the time about Revolution and
Enlightenment in the traditions of European critical thought. In a
series of wide-ranging discussions, on sexuality and its history,
non-Christian forms of spirituality, new forms of political
movements, and the role of knowledge, power, and truth in them,
Foucault examines these questions in relationship to Asia. He had
hoped these questions, very much debated at the time in post-war
Japan, would be the start of new forms of translation, publication
and exchange. At heart of the Lectures is thus a search for the
creation of a new sort of transnational collaboration, recasting
the history of European colonialism and opening to a philosophy, no
longer simply Western, yet to come. The Japan Lectures thus
contribute to the new scholarship in Asian and in translation
studies which have long since moved away from earlier ‘Area
Studies’; at the same time, they participate in the new
scholarship about Foucault’s own work and itinerary, following
the publication of an extraordinary wealth of materials left
unfinished or unpublished by his untimely death. In these ways, The
Japan Lectures help us to better see the implications of
Foucault’s work for philosophy in the twenty-first century.
In France, a country that awards its intellectuals the status other countries give their rock stars, Michel Foucault was part of a glittering generation of thinkers, one which also included Sartre, de Beauvoir and Deleuze. One of the great intellectual heroes of the twentieth century, Foucault was a man whose passion and reason were at the service of nearly every progressive cause of his time. From law and order, to mental health, to power and knowledge, he spearheaded public awareness of the dynamics that hold us all in thrall to a few powerful ideologies and interests. Arguably his finest work, Archaeology of Knowledge is a challenging but fantastically rewarding introduction to his ideas.
When one defines "order" as a sorting of priorities, it becomes beautifully clear as to what Foucault is doing here. With virtuoso showmanship, he weaves an intensely complex history of thought. He dips into literature, art, economics and even biology in The Order of Things, possibly one of the most significant yet most overlooked works of the twentieth century. Eclipsed by his later work on power and discourse, nonetheless it was The Order of Things that established Foucault's reputation as an intellectual giant. Pirouetting around the outer edge of language, Foucault unsettles the surface of literary writing. In describing the limitations of our usual taxonomies, he opens the door onto a whole new system of thought, one ripe with what he calls "exotic charm". Intellectual pyrotechnics from the master of critical thinking, this book is crucial reading for those who wish to gain insight into that odd beast called Postmodernism, and a must for any fan of Foucault.
Politics, Philosophy, Culture contains a rich selection of
interviews and other writings by the late Michel Foucault. Drawing
upon his revolutionary concept of power as well as his critique of
the institutions that organize social life, Foucault discusses
literature, music, and the power of art while also examining
concrete issues such as the Left in contemporary France, the social
security system, the penal system, homosexuality, madness, and the
Iranian Revolution.
The volume collects a series of lectures given by the renowned
French thinker Michel Foucault late in his career. The book is
composed of two parts: a talk, "Parresia," delivered at the
University of Grenoble in 1982, and a series of lectures entitled
"Discourse and Truth," given at the University of California,
Berkeley in 1983, which appears here for the first time in its full
and correct form. Together, they provide an unprecedented account
of Foucault's reading of the Greek concept of parresia, often
translated as "truth-telling" or "frank speech." In typically
Foucauldian style, the lectures trace the transformation of this
concept across Greek, Roman, and early Christian thought, from its
origins in pre-Socratic Greece to its role as a central element of
the relationship between teacher and student. In mapping the
concept's history, Foucault's concern is not to advocate for free
speech; rather, his aim is to explore the moral and political
position one must occupy in order to take the risk to speak
truthfully. In his analysis of parresia, Foucault both advances his
project of a history of the present and paves the way for a
genealogy of the critical attitude in modern and contemporary
societies. These essays--carefully edited and including notes and
introductory material to fully illuminate Foucault's insights--are
a major addition to Foucault's English-language corpus that no
scholar of ancient or modern philosophy will want to miss.
When it was first published in France in 1961 as Folie et Deraison:
Histoire de la Folie a l'age Classique, few had heard of a
thirty-four year old philosopher by the name of Michel Foucault. By
the time an abridged English edition was published in 1967 as
Madness and Civilization, Michel Foucault had shaken the
intellectual world. This translation is the first English edition
of the complete French texts of the first and second edition,
including all prefaces and appendices, some of them unavailable in
the existing French edition. History of Madness begins in the
Middle Ages with vivid descriptions of the exclusion and
confinement of lepers. Why, Foucault asks, when the leper houses
were emptied at the end of the Middle Ages, were they turned into
places of confinement for the mad? Why, within the space of several
months in 1656, was one out of every hundred people in Paris
confined? Shifting brilliantly from Descartes and early
Enlightenment thought to the founding of the Hopital General in
Paris and the work of early psychiatrists Philippe Pinel and Samuel
Tuke, Foucault focuses throughout, not only on scientific and
medical analyses of madness, but also on the philosophical and
cultural values attached to the mad. He also urges us to recognize
the creative and liberating forces that madness represents,
brilliantly drawing on examples from Goya, Nietzsche, Van Gogh and
Artaud. The History of Madness is an inspiring and classic work
that challenges us to understand madness, reason and power and the
forces that shape them.
'Imaginative, illuminating and innovative' The New York Times Book
Review The grisly spectacle of public executions and torture of
centuries ago has been replaced by the penal system in western
society - but has anything really changed? In his revolutionary
work on control and power relations in our public institutions,
Michel Foucault argues that the development of prisons, police
organizations and legal hierarchies has merely changed the focus of
domination from our bodies to our souls. Even schools, factories,
barracks and hospitals, in which an individual's time is controlled
hour by hour, are part of a disciplinary society. 'Foucault's
genius is called forth into the eloquent clarity of his passions
... his best book' Washington Post
Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality-the first volume of
which was published in 1976-exerts a vast influence across the
humanities and social sciences. However, Foucault's interest in the
history of sexuality began as early as the 1960s, when he taught
two courses on the subject. These lectures offer crucial insight
into the development of Foucault's thought yet have remained
unpublished until recently. This book presents Foucault's lectures
on sexuality for the first time in English. In the first series,
held at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in 1964, Foucault asks
how sexuality comes to be constituted as a scientific body of
knowledge within Western culture and why it derived from the
analysis of "perversions"-morbidity, homosexuality, fetishism. The
subsequent course, held at the experimental university at Vincennes
in 1969, shows how Foucault's theories were reoriented by the
events of May 1968; he refocuses on the regulatory nature of the
discourse of sexuality and how it serves economic, social, and
political ends. Examining creators of political and literary
utopias in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Sade to
Fourier to Marcuse, who attempted to integrate "natural"
sexualities, including transgressive forms, into social and
economic life, Foucault elaborates a double critique of the
naturalization and the liberation of sexuality. Together, the
lectures span a range of interests, from abnormality to
heterotopias to ideology, and they offer an unprecedented glimpse
into the evolution of Foucault's transformative thinking on
sexuality.
In this remarkable book Michel Foucault, one of the most
influential thinkers of recent times, calls us to look critically
at specific historical events in order to uncover new layers of
significance. In doing so, he challenges our assumptions not only
about history, but also about the nature of language and reason,
even of truth. The scope of such an undertaking is vast, but by
means of his uniquely engaging narrative style, Foucault's
penetrating gaze is skilfully able to confront our own. After
reading his words our perceptions are never quite the same again.
In this remarkable book Michel Foucault, one of the most influential thinkers of recent times, calls us to look critically at specific historical events in order to uncover new layers of significance. In doing so, he challenges our assumptions not only about history, but also about the nature of language and reason, even of truth. By analysing the methods of observation that underpinned the origins of modern medical techniques, Foucault is able to identify 'that opening up of the concrete individual, for the first time in Western history, to the language of rationality, that major event in the relationship of man to himself and of language to things.' The scope of such an undertaking is vast, but it is Foucault's skill that, by means of his uniquely engaging narrative style, his penetrating gaze is able to confront our own. After reading his words our perceptions are never quite the same again.
In this classic account of madness, Michel Foucault shows why he is
one of the most distinguished European philosophers since the end
of World War II. His influence dominates contemporary thinking.
"Madness and Civilization" is Foucault's first book. His other
books expand on themes established here: power and imprisonment are
at the very heart of this study. "Madness and Civilization" could
change the way in which you think about society. Evoking shock,
pity and fascination, it might also make you question the way you
think about yourself.
In this classic account of madness, Michel Foucault demonstrates
why his position as one of the most distinguished of European
philosophers since the end of World War II is beyond doubt; his
influence dominates contemporary thinking. Madness and Civilization
is Foucault's first major text and is seminal to the study of his
work, since his other books expand on themes established here:
power and imprisonment are at the very heart of this study. Evoking
shock, pity and fascination, this book aims to change the way the
reader thinks about society and the nature of selfhood."
Expanding the insights of Arlette Farge and Michel Foucault's
Disorderly Families into policing, public order, (in)justice, and
daily life What might it mean for ordinary people to intervene in
the circulation of power between police and the streets, sovereigns
and their subjects? How did the police come to understand
themselves as responsible for the circulation of people as much as
things-and to separate law and justice from the maintenance of a
newly emergent civil order? These are among the many questions
addressed in the interpretive essays in Archives of Infamy.
Crisscrossing the Atlantic to bring together unpublished radio
broadcasts, book reviews, and essays by historians, geographers,
and political theorists, Archives of Infamy provides historical and
archival contexts to the recent translation of Disorderly Families
by Arlette Farge and Michel Foucault. This volume includes new
translations of key texts, including a radio address Foucault gave
in 1983 that explains the writing process for Disorderly Families;
two essays by Foucault not readily available in English; and a
previously untranslated essay by Farge that describes how
historians have appropriated Foucault. Archives of Infamy pushes
past old debates between philosophers and historians to offer a new
perspective on the crystallization of ideas-of the family, gender
relations, and political power-into social relationships and the
regimes of power they engender. Contributors: Roger Chartier,
College de France; Stuart Elden, U of Warwick; Arlette Farge,
Centre national de recherche scientifique; Michel Foucault
(1926-1984); Jean-Philippe Guinle, Catholic Institute of Paris;
Michel Heurteaux; Pierre Nora, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales; Michael Rey (1953-1993); Thomas Scott-Railton; Elizabeth
Wingrove, U of Michigan.
'The most innovative and influential French thinker of the
contemporary era' Guardian This is the ideal introduction to one of
the most significant and radical philosophers of the past century.
It includes detailed excerpts from all of Foucault's major works,
including Discipline and Punish and The History of Sexuality, as
well as many of his most revealing interviews, covering subjects
from madness to desire, art to the nature of truth. No other writer
has made us think more about the structures of power and control in
our society, both past and present. 'Scarcely any philosopher
working on the history of philosophy or historian working on the
history of institutions, social science or sexuality can avoid
confronting the challenge of Foucault's books' Michael Ignatieff
Edited by Paul Rabinow
The final major work by one of the most influential thinkers of the
twentieth century In the fourth and final volume of his
far-reaching and influential study of human sexuality, Foucault
turns his attention to early Christianity, exploring how ancient
ideas of pleasure were modified into the notion of the 'flesh'.
Ranging over marriage, procreation and the concept of virginity as
a divine state, Foucault brilliantly shows how a fledgling religion
altered and defined the Western history of desire. Confessions of
the Flesh brings to a conclusion one of the twentieth century's
seminal works. 'A thinker of immense power ... posing questions
that still perplex us' The Times Literary Supplement 'Required
reading ... The appearance of the fourth volume is the most
significant event in the world of Foucault scholarship in 20 years
... Essential' Los Angeles Review of Books
'Foucault must be reckoned with by humanists, social scientists,
and political activists' The New York Times Book Review Society
Must Be Defended is Michel Foucault's devastating critique of the
systems of power and control inherent in civilization. Taken from a
series of lectures given by Foucault at the College de France in
1975-76, it reveals how war is the foundation of all power
relations, and politics ultimately a continuation of battlefield
violence. He offers a politically charged re-reading of history,
with examples ranging from the Trojan myth to Nazi Germany, to show
a continual, 'silent war' between the powerful and the powerless.
'A timely and prescient book, mainly because of what it says about
the way in which war is necessary as a means of control' New
Statesman Translated by David Macey
Just before the summer of 1982, French philosopher Michel Foucault
gave a series of lectures at Victoria University in Toronto. In
these lectures, which were part of his project of writing a
genealogy of the modern subject, he is concerned with the care and
cultivation of the self, a theme that becomes central to the
second, third, and fourth volumes of his History of Sexuality.
Throughout his career, Foucault had always been interested in the
question of how constellations of knowledge and power produce and
shape subjects, and in the last phase of his life, he became
especially interested not only in how subjects are formed by these
forces, but in how they ethically constitute themselves. In this
lecture series and accompanying seminar, Foucault focuses on
antiquity, starting with classical Greece, the early Roman Empire,
and concluding with Christian monasticism in the fourth and fifth
centuries AD. Foucault traces the development of a new kind of
verbal practice-"speaking the truth about oneself"-in which the
subject increasingly comes to be defined by its inner thoughts and
desires. He deemed this new form of "hermeneutical" subjectivity
important not just for historical reasons but also due to its
enduring significance in modern society. Is another form of the
self possible today?
'A brilliant display of fireworks, attacking the widespread and
banal notion that "in the beginning" sexual activity was guilt-free
and delicious, being repressed and blighted only by the gloom of
Victorianism' Spectator We talk about sex more and more, but are we
more liberated? The first part of Michel Foucault's landmark
account of our evolving attitudes in the west shows how the
nineteenth century, far from suppressing sexuality, led to an
explosion of discussion about sex as a separate sphere of life for
study and examination. As a result, he argues, we are making a
science of sex which is devoted to the analysis of desire rather
than the increase of pleasure. 'A wealth of insights, original
conceptualizations and provocative ideas' The Times Literary
Supplement
In this historic 1971 debate, two of the twentieth century's most
influential thinkers discuss whether there is such a thing as
innate human nature. In 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War and
at a time of great political and social instability, two of the
world's leading intellectuals, Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault,
were invited by Dutch philosopher Fons Elders to debate an age-old
question: Is there such a thing as "innate" human nature
independent of our experiences and external influences? The
resulting dialogue is one of the most original, provocative, and
spontaneous exchanges to have occurred between contemporary
philosophers. Above all, their discussion serves as a concise
introduction to their two opposing theories. What begins as a
philosophical argument rooted in linguistics (Chomsky) and the
theory of knowledge (Foucault), soon evolves into a broader
discussion encompassing a wide range of topics, from science,
history, and behaviorism to creativity, freedom, and the struggle
for justice in the realm of politics. In addition to the debate
itself, this volume features a newly written introduction by noted
Foucault scholar John Rajchman and includes substantial additional
texts by Chomsky and Foucault. "[Chomsky is] arguably the most
important intellectual alive." --The New York Times "Foucault . . .
leaves no reader untouched or unchanged." --Edward Said
Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality-the first volume of
which was published in 1976-exerts a vast influence across the
humanities and social sciences. However, Foucault's interest in the
history of sexuality began as early as the 1960s, when he taught
two courses on the subject. These lectures offer crucial insight
into the development of Foucault's thought yet have remained
unpublished until recently. This book presents Foucault's lectures
on sexuality for the first time in English. In the first series,
held at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in 1964, Foucault asks
how sexuality comes to be constituted as a scientific body of
knowledge within Western culture and why it derived from the
analysis of "perversions"-morbidity, homosexuality, fetishism. The
subsequent course, held at the experimental university at Vincennes
in 1969, shows how Foucault's theories were reoriented by the
events of May 1968; he refocuses on the regulatory nature of the
discourse of sexuality and how it serves economic, social, and
political ends. Examining creators of political and literary
utopias in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Sade to
Fourier to Marcuse, who attempted to integrate "natural"
sexualities, including transgressive forms, into social and
economic life, Foucault elaborates a double critique of the
naturalization and the liberation of sexuality. Together, the
lectures span a range of interests, from abnormality to
heterotopias to ideology, and they offer an unprecedented glimpse
into the evolution of Foucault's transformative thinking on
sexuality.
A groundbreaking collection of writings by Michel Foucault and the
Prisons Information Group documenting their efforts to expose
France's inhumane treatment of prisoners Founded by Michel Foucault
and others in 1970-71, the Prisons Information Group (GIP)
circulated information about the inhumane conditions within the
French prison system. Intolerable makes available for the first
time in English a fully annotated compilation of materials produced
by the GIP during its brief but influential existence, including an
exclusive new interview with GIP member Helene Cixous and writings
by Gilles Deleuze and Jean Genet. These archival documents-public
announcements, manifestos, reports, pamphlets, interventions, press
conference statements, interviews, and round table
discussions-trace the GIP's establishment in post-1968 political
turmoil, the new models of social activism it pioneered, the prison
revolts it supported across France, and the retrospective
assessments that followed its denouement. At the same time,
Intolerable offers a rich, concrete exploration of Foucault's
concept of resistance, providing a new understanding of the arc of
his intellectual development and the genesis of his most
influential book, Discipline and Punish. Presenting the account of
France's most vibrant prison resistance movement in its own words
and on its own terms, this significant and relevant collection also
connects the approach and activities of the GIP to radical prison
resistance movements today.
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