Modernity and Crisis in the Thought of Michel Foucault: The Totality of Reason (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)

Few studies of Foucault have examined his thought from a sustained interdisciplinary perspective. Through the interpretative prism of the concept of the‘Totality of Reason’, this book suggests an original analytical reading of Foucault's thought. This book addresses Foucault’s characterizations of the Enlightenment, asking whether the developmental history of the modern conception of knowledge – from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment – warrants the conclusion he draws. From the perspective of a critical evaluation of Foucault's thesis on ‘the crisis of modernity’, the book examines whether Foucault, the philosophical and social critic, truly belongs to those intellectual trends known as a ‘deconstruction’ and ‘post-modernism’ that advocate a wholesale rejection of the project of modernity, demonstrating how a classification of this kind contributes to an impoverishment of our understanding of Foucault's thought. This book will attract the attention of readers interested in Foucault, and what is broadly perceived to be the ‘crisis of modernity’. It will appeal to scholars and advanced students of sociology, political philosophy and political science, psychology, philosophy, interdisciplinary studies and cultural studies. Few studies of Foucault have examined his thought from a sustained interdisciplinary perspective. Through the interpretative prism of the concept of the ‘Totality of Reason', this book suggests an original analytical reading of Foucault's thought.This book addresses Foucault's characterizations of the Enlightenment, asking whether the developmental history of the modern conception of knowledge – from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment – warrants the conclusion he draws. From the perspective of a critical evaluation of Foucault's thesis on ‘the crisis of modernity', the book examines whether Foucault, the philosophical and social critic, truly belongs to those intellectual trends known as a ‘deconstruction'and ‘post-modernism'that advocate a wholesale rejection of the project of modernity, demonstrating how a classification of this kind contributes to an impoverishment of our understanding of Foucault's thought.This book will attract the attention of readers interested in Foucault, and what is broadly perceived to be the ‘crisis of modernity'. It will appeal to scholars and advanced students of sociology, political philosophy and political science, psychology, philosophy, interdisciplinary studies and cultural studies. Few studies of Foucault have examined his thought from a sustained interdisciplinary perspective. Through the interpretative prism of the concept of the Totality of Reason, this book suggests an original analytical reading of Foucault's thought. This book addresses Foucaults characterizations of the Enlightenment, asking whether the developmental history of the modern conception of knowledge from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment warrants the conclusion he draws. From the perspective of a critical evaluation of Foucault's thesis on the crisis of modernity, the book examines whether Foucault, the philosophical and social critic, truly belongs to those intellectual trends known as a deconstruction and post-modernism that advocate a wholesale rejection of the project of modernity, demonstrating how a classification of this kind contributes to an impoverishment of our understanding of Foucault's thought. This book will attract the attention of readers interested in Foucault, and what is broadly perceived to be the crisis of modernity. It will appeal to scholars and advanced students of sociology, political philosophy and political science, psychology, philosophy, interdisciplinary studies and cultural studies. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 PART I Rationalism and Critical Thought......Page 16 1 The Beginnings of Critical Thought......Page 18 2 The Limits of Rationalism......Page 22 3 The Enlightenment: Between the Horizon of Hope and the Anatomy of Despair......Page 29 PART II Michel Foucault and the Critical Discourse on Modernity: The Roots of Disciplinary Violence......Page 42 4 Ordering......Page 44 5 The Manipulative Power of Reason......Page 57 6 Corrective Reason: Knowledge and Confinement......Page 67 7 The Human and the Scientific: The Invention of Man......Page 76 8 The Social Discourse: Criticism or Negation?......Page 81 9 Phenomenological Tone of Critical Discourse......Page 95 10 Parrhesia and the Changing Political Imagination......Page 102 Conclusion: The Totality of Reason......Page 121 Index......Page 129 Matan Oram. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.