The Passion of Michel FoucaultShortly before his death in 1984, Michel Foucault defended his career as one of the most controversial thinkers of our time. "The philosophical life", he declared, "is the animality of being human, renewed as a challenge, practiced as an exercise - and thrown in the face of others as a scandal". Now, for the first time, here is a book that explores the true challenge - and "scandal" - of Foucault's life and work. Based on extensive new research and a bold reinterpretation of the man and his texts, The Passion of Michel Foucault is a startling look at one of this century's most influential philosophers. It chronicles every stage of Foucault's personal and professional odyssey, from his early interest in dreams to his final preoccupation with sexuality and the nature of personal identity. Exploring the wider context of his work, it conjures up the heyday of structuralism in Paris and the electrifying chaos of the strikes in May 1968. It recounts Foucault's debates with Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Derrida, and his encounters with Noam Chomsky and Jurgen Habermas. And in revelations as fascinating as they may be shocking to some readers, The Passion of Michel Foucault provides the first detailed account of Foucault's lifelong obsession with death, suicide, drugs, and sadomasochistic eroticism - even under the mounting threat of AIDS in the 1980s. With the subtlety and sure grasp of history, politics, and philosophy that have marked his earlier books, James Miller has written a landmark study sure to provoke debate among readers everywhere. |
From inside the book
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Page 222
... idea of “ panopticism " illuminated a host of real institutions that were in the process of transforming modern life . " In my book on the birth of the prison , " as he explained in a 1978 interview , " I tried to show precisely how the ...
... idea of “ panopticism " illuminated a host of real institutions that were in the process of transforming modern life . " In my book on the birth of the prison , " as he explained in a 1978 interview , " I tried to show precisely how the ...
Page 270
... idea of a " truth " that could be approached through an inquiry was , according to Foucault , distinctly modern , and one of the methodological foundations of contemporary science . In an inquiry , one gathered evidence on the ...
... idea of a " truth " that could be approached through an inquiry was , according to Foucault , distinctly modern , and one of the methodological foundations of contemporary science . In an inquiry , one gathered evidence on the ...
Page 323
... idea of the bios as a material for an aesthetic piece of art is something which fascinates me , " Foucault explained in one interview , summing up this aspect of his fascination with Stoicism . " The idea also that ethics can be a very ...
... idea of the bios as a material for an aesthetic piece of art is something which fascinates me , " Foucault explained in one interview , summing up this aspect of his fascination with Stoicism . " The idea also that ethics can be a very ...
Contents
Preface | 5 |
THE DEATH OF THE AUTHOR | 13 |
WAITING FOR GODOT | 37 |
Copyright | |
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