I too quite liked the Miller biography, although I found it more entertaining
than informative. Eribon's is the more susbtantial one in terms of insight into
Foucault's work.
On another note, I would like John Ransom to put aside his modesty and tell us
more about his new book.
Andrew Herman
Drake University
Gary Yuen wrote:
> I also very much liked Miller's biography _The Passion of Michel Foucault_.
> I haven't had a chance to read the other two biographies. The third one (I
> forget the author) states on the back that it's the third and probably the
> last. That's quite a statement but intriguing nonetheless.
>
> And Blanchot's essay 'Michel Foucault as I imagine him' is also worth reading.
>
> Gary
>
> At 04:01 PM 9/22/97 -0400, John Ransom wrote:
> >On Mon, 22 Sep 1997 pfl661@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> I have been a lurker on this list for about a month. I would like to ask
> >> for some information from the list members.
> >>
> >> I have the opportunity to take a class this semester on a single
> >> theorist (sociology). I would like to spend the semester reading
> >> Foucault.
> >>
> >> What secondary sources would you read if you were starting out? I'm
> >> looking for something that "frames" Foucault's work. I have a copy of
> >> Cultural Analysis by Wuthnow. Any suggestions would be greatly
> >> apreciated.
> >>
> >> Phyllis Flott
> >> University of North Texas
> >>
> >
> >It depends what period of F's work you want to focus on. An absolutely
> >fantastic book on Foucault's "middle period" (_Order of Things_,
> >_Archaeology of Knowledge_) is Gary Gutting's _Michel Foucault's
> >Archaeology of Scientific Reason_.
> >
> >For the 70s and 80s, you can't go wrong with James Bernauer's _Michel
> >Foucault's Force of Flight_. Modesty prevents me from mentioning my book
> >(_Foucault's Discipline_).
> >
> >If you're interested in the broader framing, perhaps something you're
> >looking for is one of the biographies on him. Didier Eribon's _Michel
> >Foucault_ provides a good account of F's life and career, though the
> >biography format keeps him from going deep theoretically.
> >
> >A more critical kind of framing is provided by Luc Ferry and Alain Renaut
> >in _French Philosophy of the Sixties_. They see Foucault and all other
> >French (intellectual) diseases as so much politically irresponsible,
> >anti-democratic nonsense.
> >
> >Some of the best work that criticizes Foucault is still some of the
> >oldest: see the articles by Walzer, Taylor, and Habermas in _Foucault: A
> >Critical Reader_, ed. David Couzens Hoy.
> >
> >A short book by a respected thinker who surveys all of Foucault's periods
> >is _Foucault: An Introduction_ by Hinrich Fink-Eitel.
> >
> >Good luck,
> >
> >--John
> >
> >
> >
than informative. Eribon's is the more susbtantial one in terms of insight into
Foucault's work.
On another note, I would like John Ransom to put aside his modesty and tell us
more about his new book.
Andrew Herman
Drake University
Gary Yuen wrote:
> I also very much liked Miller's biography _The Passion of Michel Foucault_.
> I haven't had a chance to read the other two biographies. The third one (I
> forget the author) states on the back that it's the third and probably the
> last. That's quite a statement but intriguing nonetheless.
>
> And Blanchot's essay 'Michel Foucault as I imagine him' is also worth reading.
>
> Gary
>
> At 04:01 PM 9/22/97 -0400, John Ransom wrote:
> >On Mon, 22 Sep 1997 pfl661@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> I have been a lurker on this list for about a month. I would like to ask
> >> for some information from the list members.
> >>
> >> I have the opportunity to take a class this semester on a single
> >> theorist (sociology). I would like to spend the semester reading
> >> Foucault.
> >>
> >> What secondary sources would you read if you were starting out? I'm
> >> looking for something that "frames" Foucault's work. I have a copy of
> >> Cultural Analysis by Wuthnow. Any suggestions would be greatly
> >> apreciated.
> >>
> >> Phyllis Flott
> >> University of North Texas
> >>
> >
> >It depends what period of F's work you want to focus on. An absolutely
> >fantastic book on Foucault's "middle period" (_Order of Things_,
> >_Archaeology of Knowledge_) is Gary Gutting's _Michel Foucault's
> >Archaeology of Scientific Reason_.
> >
> >For the 70s and 80s, you can't go wrong with James Bernauer's _Michel
> >Foucault's Force of Flight_. Modesty prevents me from mentioning my book
> >(_Foucault's Discipline_).
> >
> >If you're interested in the broader framing, perhaps something you're
> >looking for is one of the biographies on him. Didier Eribon's _Michel
> >Foucault_ provides a good account of F's life and career, though the
> >biography format keeps him from going deep theoretically.
> >
> >A more critical kind of framing is provided by Luc Ferry and Alain Renaut
> >in _French Philosophy of the Sixties_. They see Foucault and all other
> >French (intellectual) diseases as so much politically irresponsible,
> >anti-democratic nonsense.
> >
> >Some of the best work that criticizes Foucault is still some of the
> >oldest: see the articles by Walzer, Taylor, and Habermas in _Foucault: A
> >Critical Reader_, ed. David Couzens Hoy.
> >
> >A short book by a respected thinker who surveys all of Foucault's periods
> >is _Foucault: An Introduction_ by Hinrich Fink-Eitel.
> >
> >Good luck,
> >
> >--John
> >
> >
> >