Michel Foucault
French philosopher and historian of ideas
Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and historian of ideas. He examined how power and knowledge operate as a means of controlling society through institutions.
3 summaries 54 min of listening
French Born 1926 in Poitiers, France Died 1984
Influenced by Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Nietzsche
About Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was born in Poitiers, France, and earned degrees in philosophy and psychology at the University of Paris. He worked at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, lectured at the University of Tunis, and later headed the philosophy department at Paris VIII. In 1970 he was admitted to the Collège de France, where he remained a member until his death. The Order of Things appeared in 1966, and Discipline & Punish followed in 1975. He also joined left-wing groups working on racism, abuses of human rights and penal reform. He died in Paris in 1984 from complications of HIV/AIDS.