Foucault: His Thought, His CharacterMichel Foucault and Paul Veyne: the philosopher and the historian. Two major figures in the world of ideas, resisting all attempts at categorization. Two timeless thinkers who have long walked and fought together. In this short book Paul Veyne offers a fresh portrait of his friend and relaunches the debate about his ideas and legacy. ‘Foucault is not who you think he is’, writes Veyne; he stood neither on the left nor on the right and was frequently disowned by both. He was not so much a structuralist as a sceptic, an empiricist disciple of Montaigne, who never ceased in his work to reflect on 'truth games', on singular, constructed truths that belonged to their own time. A unique testimony by a scholar who knew Foucault well, this book succeeds brilliantly in grasping the core of his thought and in stripping away the confusions and misunderstandings that have so often characterized the interpretation of Foucault and his work. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 5 | |
There is No a priori that is Not Historical | 22 |
Foucaults Scepticism | 37 |
Archaeology | 54 |
Universalism Universals Epigenesis The Beginnings of Christianity | 59 |
Notwithstanding Heidegger Man is an Intelligent Animal | 66 |
The Physical and Human Sciences Foucaults Programme | 77 |
Common terms and phrases
According to Foucault aestheticization Alexandre Koyré anthropology Archaeology of Knowledge become believe Biopolitics cault century Christian claimed Collège de France concepts constitute critique Daniel Defert death discourse doctrine Dominique Janicaud empirical epigenesis epoch eternal return everything example exist fact finitude fishbowl Gallimard genealogy Greek Heidegger Heidegger’s historian human Ibid idea ideal type ideology intellectual Janicaud Jesus judgement kind l’histoire L’Ordre du discours lectures living madness Marxism Max Weber meaning metaphysical Michel Foucault militant mind morality nature never nevertheless Nietzsche Nietzschean notion object one’s oneself Order of Things origin ourselves pagan particular Passeron period person philosophical political possess possible principle problem question rationality Raymond Aron readers reality reason religion René Char sceptic scientific sense set-up simply singular social society sociological speak subjectivization thinker thought tion told transcendental true truth universal Weber word writing