The Politics of the Order of Things: Foucault, Sartre, and Deleuze

Foucault's histories are typically aimed at what he regarded as intolerable political consequences of knowledge-based disciplines such as psychiatry and medicine. But The Order of Things is hard to fit into this pattern. What are the intolerable political consequences of the metaphysical and ep...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gutting, Gary 1942-2019 (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley [2016]
In: History and theory
Year: 2016, Volume: 55, Issue: 4, Pages: 54-65
Further subjects:B The Order of Things
B Deleuze
B Political
B Sartre
B Foucault
B Humanism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Foucault's histories are typically aimed at what he regarded as intolerable political consequences of knowledge-based disciplines such as psychiatry and medicine. But The Order of Things is hard to fit into this pattern. What are the intolerable political consequences of the metaphysical and epistemological “humanism” the book attacks? To answer this question, I discuss Foucault's attitude toward Sartre and Deleuze, neither mentioned in The Order of Things but both of central importance for understanding its political significance. My conclusion is that the book fails as a political critique of Sartre (and political humanism in general) and instead expresses Foucault's personal ethical preference for Deleuzian limit experiences.
ISSN:1468-2303
Contains:Enthalten in: History and theory
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/hith.10828