Product Description

Foucault's classic methodological statement.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21915 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'Next to Sartre's Search for a Method and in direct opposition to it, Foucault's work is the most noteworthy effort at a theory of history in the last 50 years.' - Library Journal

From the Back Cover
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. The purpose of The Archaeology of Knowledge is to suggest how rhetoric can be studied and understood in its relationship with power and knowledge. Foucaults analysis is second to none and his intellectual breadth is astounding. Arguably his finest work, it is certainly challenging, but the rewards are indeed generous!

About the Author
Michel Foucault (1926-84). Celebrated French thinker and activist who challenged people's assumptions about care of the mentally ill, gay rights, prisons, the police and welfare.

Customer Reviews

A tremendous insight into the nature of discourse
The Archaeology of Knowledge is a very heavy going but very stimulating read. As ever Foucault's analysis is groundbreaking, as it is a completely new way of deciphering the subject of discourse.

Instead of embarking on a history of ideas he dismisses this concept and instead gives an archaeological account of knowledge, which he believes breaks up the teleological version of progressive knowledge put forward by (Whig) historians. He suggests that there is no ideal discourse and thus treats all discourses as products of their own time without trying to pass moral or intellectual judgement on their nature or content.

Foucault postulates that because all discourses are products of their own epochs 'our' discourse, the liberal discourse of Man (as the focal point of the universe), will one day die too. Reinforcing the conclusion he made at the end of probably his greatest work 'The Order of things'.

One thing is for sure, as with all his works, Foucault will make you, stop, think, and reanalyse the way you look at things. He is truly the master at doing that.

Magnificent!
In spite of its relatively modest size and the neglect it has suffered, 'The Archeology of Knowledge' is one of Foucault's most rewarding texts. Not only is it a brilliant exploration of the our current understanding of the concept of knowledge and its relationship to power, but it also captures a unique moment in modern intellectual history, when Foucault broke with the traditions of Structuralism, to begin the researches which were to lead to his 'late' period works. A must!!!