Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault is one of the most influential, and controversial, thinkers of the twentieth century. His engagement with topics such as truth, power and language continues to exert significant influence on a huge range of disciplines, from philosophy, sociology and anthropology to history, politics, law, literature, religion and many others.
Born in Poitiers, France in October 1926, Foucault studied philosophy at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris, securing degrees in both philosophy and psychology. He lectured there in philosophy and worked as a psychologist at the Hôpital Sainte-Anne in the early 1950s. His thesis, Folie et Deraison: Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique , was published in 1961 and subsequently published in English as History of Madness by Routledge. It was hailed as "magnificent" by the renowned historian Fernand Braudel and announced the arrival of a major new voice in philosophy. Several other now-famous works followed, including The Birth of the Clinic, The Order of Things and The Archaeology of Knowledge (all published by Routledge).
Foucault was also a renowned activist, campaigning tirelessly on behalf of homosexuals and for prison reform. He travelled to North America in the 1970s and 1980s to live what he termed "limit experiences" and write the three volumes of his History of Sexuality. Fatally ill with AIDS, Foucault died in Paris on 25 June 1984, at the age of fifty-seven.
Politics, Philosophy, Culture: Interviews and Other Writings 1977-1984
Politics, Philosophy, Culture contains a rich selection of interviews and other writings by the late Michel Foucault, many of which are hard to find. Drawing upon his revolutionary concept of power... (more)
Madness and civilization
The influence of Michel Foucault, one of the great post-war philosophers, permeates contemporary philosophical thought. In this text, his first major work, he sets forth themes he picks up on in... (more)
Society Must Be Defended
This volume is a full transcript of the lectures given by Foucault in 1975-76. The main theme of the lectures is the contention that war can be used to analyze power relations. The book is coloured... (more)
History of Madness
Challenging entrenched views of madness and reason, "History of Madness" is one of the classics of twentieth century thought. It is Foucault's first major work, written in a dazzling and sometimes... (more)
Psychiatric Power: Lectures at the College De France, 1973-1974 (Hardback)
See catalogue number 27486 for the paperback edition. In this new addition to the "College de France Lecture" series, Michel Foucault's historical enquiry into the uses and techniques of power and... (more)
Psychiatric Power: Lectures at the College De France, 1973-1974
New in paperback. In this new addition to the "College de France Lecture" series, Michel Foucault's historical enquiry into the uses and techniques of power and knowledge finds itself directed... (more)
Archaeology of Knowledge
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,... (more)
History of Madness
When it was first published in France in 1961 as Folie et Déraison: Histoire de la Folie à l'âge Classique, few had heard of a thirty-four year old philosopher by the name of Michel Foucault. By the... (more)