Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault (October 15, 1926 – June 26, 1984) was a French philosopher and held a chair at the Collège de France, a chair to which he gave the title "The History of Systems of Thought". His writings have had an enormous impact on other scholarly work: Foucault's influence extends across the humanities and social sciences, and across many applied and professional areas of study.

Criticisms of Foucault

Many thinkers have criticized Foucault, ranging from Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, and Nancy Fraser to Slavoj ?i?ek. While each of them takes issue with different aspects of Foucault's work, all of these approaches share the same basic orientation: Foucault seems to reject the liberal values and philosophy associated with the Enlightenment while simultaneously secretly relying on them. They argue that this failure either makes him dangerously nihilistic, or that he cannot be taken seriously in his disavowal of normative values and in fact his work ultimately presupposes them.

Related Topics:
Charles Taylor - Jürgen Habermas - Jacques Derrida - Nancy Fraser - Slavoj ?i?ek - Liberal - Enlightenment - Nihilistic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some historians as well as others have also criticised Foucault for his use of historical information, claiming that he frequently misrepresented things, got his facts wrong, or simply made them up entirely. Perhaps the most notable of these was Jacques Derrida's extensive critique of Foucault's reading of Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. Derrida's criticism led to a break in their friendship and marked the beginning of a fifteen year-long feud between the two.

Related Topics:
Jacques Derrida - Rene Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is important to note, however, that there has been considerable debate over both these sets of criticisms and they are not universally accepted as valid by all critics. Foucault himself on a number of occasions took issue with the first kind of criticism noting that he believed strongly in human freedom and that his philosophy was a fundamentally optimistic one, as he believed that something positive could always be done no matter how bleak the situation. One might also add that his work is actually aimed at refuting the position that Reason (or 'rationality' ) is the sole means of guaranteeing truth and the validity of ethical systems. Thus, to criticise Reason is not to reject all notions of truth and ethics as some of these critics claim.

Related Topics:
Freedom - Reason - Truth - Ethics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In relation to the second criticism, Foucault on a number of occasions refuted charges of historical inaccuracy particularly in relation to Madness and Civilization. There are notable exchanges with Lawrence Stone and George Steiner on this subject as well as a discussion with historian Jacques Leonard concerning Discipline and Punish. Some of the criticisms of Foucault's use of history are generated, as Foucault himself points out, by his use of and approach to history in terms of dealing with specific problems rather than more traditional general historical approaches.

Related Topics:
Lawrence Stone - George Steiner - Jacques Leonard - History

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~