The Passion of Michel Foucault

Summary

The Passion of Michel Foucault is a biography of the French philosopher Michel Foucault authored by the American philosopher James Miller. It was first published in the United States by Simon & Schuster in 1993.

The Passion of Michel Foucault
Cover of the first edition
AuthorJames Miller
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectMichel Foucault
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Publication date
1993
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages491
ISBN978-0671695507

Within the book, Miller made the claim that Foucault's experiences in the gay sadomasochism community during the time he taught at Berkeley directly influenced his political and philosophical works.[1] Miller's ideas have been rebuked by certain Foucault scholars as being either simply misdirected,[2] a sordid reading of his life and works,[3][4] or as a politically motivated, intentional misreading.[5][6]

Reception edit

Writing for The Boston Globe, book critic George Scialabba described The Passion of Michel Foucault as an "intensely interesting" work which provides an "astoundingly vivid though non-prurient description of (mainly homosexual) sadomasochism".[2] The historian of science Roger Smith writes that Miller turns Foucault's life "into a drama for our times".[7]

References edit

  1. ^ Miller 1993.
  2. ^ a b Scialabba, George. Review: "The Passion of Michel Foucault by James Miller." Boston Globe, 30 January 1993.
  3. ^ Rubenstein, Diane 1995 Modern Fiction Studies 41.3–4 681–698
  4. ^ Williams, James S. The French Review March 1997, Vol. 70, No. 4 pp. 604–605
  5. ^ Foucault, Michel (1999-08-15). Carrette, Jeremy R. Religion and culture By Michel Foucault. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719054679. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  6. ^ Halperin, David M. (1997-04-10). Halperin, David M. Saint Foucault: towards a gay hagiography. Oup USA. ISBN 9780195111279. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  7. ^ Smith, Roger (1997). The Norton History of the Human Sciences. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 1006–7. ISBN 0-393-31733-1.

Bibliography edit

  • Macey, David (1993). The Lives of Michel Foucault. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0091753443.
  • Miller, James (1993). The Passion of Michel Foucault. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671695507.