Foucault (book)

Foucault

The first edition
Author José Guilherme Merquior
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Philosophy
Published 1985 (Fontana Press)
Media type Print
Pages 188 (1991 edition)
ISBN 0-00-686226-8

Foucault is a 1985 book about French intellectual Michel Foucault by Brazilian critic and sociologist José Guilherme Merquior. Foucault is part of the Fontana Modern Masters series.

Summary

Merquior's evaluation of Foucault's work is largely negative. He argues that Foucault's books and essays were often riddled with major errors of fact and reasoning, seriously (sometimes fatally) weakening Foucault's arguments. For example, Merquior notes that in his first major book, Madness and Civilization (1961), Foucault argues that in Europe before the Enlightenment madness was relegated to the fringes of society but nonetheless seen as a type of divine wisdom engaged in dialogue with, and pointing out the foibles of, society. However, Merquior suggests that the historical record contradicts Foucault by showing that the insane were often imprisoned and treated cruelly long before the Enlightenment, and that the motives for creating insane asylums across Europe was nowhere near as uniform as Foucault implies. Additionally, he suggests that Foucault's widespread influence in the academic humanities is attributable less to the quality of Foucault's work and more to his fashionable quasi-Marxist habit of "bourgeoisie-bashing".[1]

Merquior does offer scattered praise for Foucault's work, describing his early efforts at literary criticism as "brilliant" and "insightful",[2] and applauding his use of obscure historical sources and documents to shed new light on neglected areas of inquiry.[3]

Scholarly reception

Merquior's work was praised by critic Roger Kimball[4] and humanities professor Camille Paglia, who both suggested that it shows that Foucault made elementary errors in every area he wrote about. Though supportive of Foucault in general, Paglia criticizes Merquior for failing to discuss what she sees as Foucault's enormous debts to French sociologist Émile Durkheim.[5] Literature professor John M. Ellis calls Foucault the best general account of Foucault's oeuvre,[6] while Gregory R. Johnson calls it one of Merquior's "minor classics."[7] Conversely, English professor Paul Bové dismissed Merquior's criticisms of Foucault as arrogant and stupid.[8]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Merquior 1991. p. 159.
  2. ↑ Merquior 1991. p. 164.
  3. ↑ Merquior 1991. p. 86.
  4. ↑ Kimball 1993.
  5. ↑ Paglia 1993. p. 224.
  6. ↑ Ellis 1997. pp. 246-247.
  7. ↑ Johnson 1992. p. 154.
  8. ↑ Bové 1990. pp. viii, xxxvi.

Bibliography

Books
  • Bove, Paul; Deleuze, Gilles (1990). Foucault. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-1675-2.
  • Ellis, John M. (1997). Literature Lost: Social Agendas and the Corruption of the Humanities. New York: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-06920-0.
  • Merquior, J. G. (1991). Foucault. London: Fontana Press. ISBN 0-00-686226-8.
  • Paglia, Camille (1993). Sex, Art, and American Culture. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-017209-2.
Online articles