Product Description

An introduction to Foucault's thought, which includes some previously unpublished material.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41845 in Books
• Published on: 1991-03-28
• Original language: French
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
Mutterings from the arch-mandarin: interviews, essays, and samples of the many brilliant but torturous books (Madness and Civilization, Discipline and Punish, The History of Sexuality, Power/Knowledge, etc.) by the world's leading meta-historian. As the anthology unfolds, newcomers to Foucault should be dazzled by his erudition and analytical daring in reconstructing the patterns of institutional power (prisons, insane asylums, hospitals, workhouses) and, still more ambitiously, the "genealogy" of the self in western culture. Foucault displays an exceptional grasp of recondite sources (everyting from Isocrates' views on pederasty to obscure 18th-century medical texts) and a gift for opening up dramatic new perspectives (as in his evocation of "the Great Confinement," which he dates from the founding of Paris' Hopital General in 1656). But these highly original "archaeological" studies are vitiated by Foucault's oracular vagueness and abstract neologisms - "empiricities," "adjacencies," "heteropias," "penality." He delights in the impenetrable apothegm ("Nietzsche. . . burned for us. . . the intermingled promises of the dialectic and anthropology"), the outrageous claim ("Marxism exists in 19th century thought like a fish in water: that is, it is unable to breathe anywhere else"), the staggering generalization ("The space of Western knowledge is now about to topple"), and the sniffish pronouncement ("Sex is boring"). A handy collection for Foucaultistes, but the uninitiated will have to take the bafflement along with the enrichment. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
One of the leading intellectuals of the twentieth century and the most prominent thinker in post-war France, Foucault's work influenced disciplines as diverse as history, sociology, philosophy, sociology and literary criticism.

Customer Reviews

Start Reading Foucault
Foucault is much talked about; few people seem to read his own work. This may be so, because Foucault has the reputation of being difficult to grasp. This book, however, consists of carefully selected extracts and interviews. This makes Foucault more approachable. If you have always wanted to read Foucault, but did not dare to, this is a good start.

summation of the complexities of Foucault philosophy
Being a reader, this is even a bit more difficult to understand than average Foucault books. However, it boils his philosphies down to one major point: truths are relative and because of this, establishing truths are excercises in power. Foucault makes a good argument and stands to be exactly right if indeed there are no absolutes.

Nice Overview
If you're wondering about Foucault, this is a great book to pick up. Not all of the concepts make sense immediately, as it is a reader and Foucault is complicated, but it's still worth a look. Pick out some favorite chapters and then read further.