Foucault is one of those rare philosophers who has become a cult figure. From aesthetics to the penal system; from madness and civilisation to avant-garde literature, he rejected old models of thinking and replaced them with versions that are still debated today. This book introduces and explores aspects of his life, work, and thought.
Gary Gutting is John A. O'Brien Chair in Philosophy (Emeritus) at the University of Notre Dame, and is considered a leading expert on Foucault. Since the first edition of the Foucault VSI was published he has written many books, including Thinking the Impossible: French Philosophy Since 1960 (OUP, 2011), and What Philosophers Know: Case Studies in Recent Analytic Philosophy (CUP, 2009).