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Michel Foucault Quotes

Biography

Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a French philosopher and social theorist best known for his critical studies of various social institutions. His seminal work, "Discipline and Punish" (1975), explores the development of the modern penal system and how societal power structures shape human behavior. more Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a French philosopher and social theorist best known for his critical studies of various social institutions. His seminal work, "Discipline and Punish" (1975), explores the development of the modern penal system and how societal power structures shape human behavior. In "The History of Sexuality" series, Foucault examined the relationship between power and sexuality, revolutionizing the field of gender studies. Foucault held a professorship at the Collège de France, where he taught the history of systems of thought. His concept of biopower, introduced in his lectures, highlighted how modern states regulate their citizens through an intricate web of regulatory controls. Foucault died in Paris in 1984, leaving behind a profound influence on contemporary philosophy and social theory. less

Popular Quotes

"The critique of modernity has to recognize its ambiguous structure."
Tags: Philosophy, Critique, Ambiguity, Sociology, Structure
"Knowledge is not made for understanding; it is made for cutting"
Tags: Philosophy, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Critical thinking
"Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret"
Tags: Philosophy, Truth, Existentialism, Mortality, Mystery
"Justice must always question itself just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions"
Tags: Self-improvement, Self-reflection, Society, Justice, Accountability
"Do not ask who I am and do not ask me to remain the same"
Tags: Self-awareness, Growth, Self-discovery, Change, Individuality
"My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous"
Tags: Philosophy, Perspective, Awareness, Balance, Critical thinking
"The relation between power and knowledge is not one of exteriority"
Tags: Philosophy, Knowledge, Power, Power dynamics, Epistemology
"The only valid tribute to thought such as Nietzsche's is precisely to use it, to deform it, to make it groan and protest"
Tags: Philosophy, Transformation, Critical thinking, Nietzsche, Philosophical inquiry
"Madness, in its wild state, howled there"
Tags: Madness, Chaos, Insanity, Wild, Howling
"Truth is of the world; it is produced there by virtue of multiple constraints"
Tags: Philosophy, Truth, Reality, World, Epistemology
"The totality of my discourse, a discourse which is in the end truly my own, concerns my own illness"
Tags: Mental health, Identity, Introspection, Self-reflection, Subjectivity
"I am hopelessly in love with a memory. An echo from another time, another place"
Tags: Love, Time, Memory, Nostalgia, Past
"The soul is the prison of the body"
Tags: Philosophy, Spirituality, Existentialism, Metaphor, Soul
"In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating."
Tags: Education, Power, Justice, Healing, Control
"We are freer than we think."
Tags: Self-awareness, Mindset, Empowerment, Perception, Freedom
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