Foucault

Michel Foucault (1926-1984) - paradoxical philosopher, Professor at the Collège de France, political militant, and social activist - shocked a world that had barely recovered from the " Death of God " by announcing the imminent death of mankind : " Man " is no more than a subject for discourse (Les Mots et les Choses, 1966) and disciplinary subjugation (Surveiller et punir, 1975). Foucault the archeologist was initially interested not so much in the " surface " as he was in the " depth " of areas of knowledge : places where breaks occur that cause people in various time periods to use homonyms to refer to different objects. He therefore wrote Histoire de la Folie, a history of the medical establishment's viwpoint ; Naissance de la clinique ; and a history of discipline, Surveiller et punir. In his work, Histoire de la sexualité (1976, 1984), Foucault abandoned the archeological method and attempted to define an " esthetic for existence " by rereading the authors of Antiquity.This essay examines the various perspectives that Foucault presented of his "work " and shows us how his own reading of Kant precluded the possibility that he could remain " Nietzschean ".Pierre Billouet, a professor with his agrégation and Doctorate in Philosophy, partially translated and annotated Kant's Critique de la Raison Pratique. He also published Paganisme et postmodernité, by J.-F. Lyotard.