Foucault: A Very Short Introduction
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Philosophy (Modern)
by: Gary Gutting
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Although Foucault is usually more lucid than many other French writers -- e.g., Baudrillard -- he is nevertheless too prone to linguistic obfuscation. Too many his would-be disciples attempt to write in a prose style that is as opaque as anyone on the Left Bank. The autor of this VSI, however, is clear and consice. Gutting writes insightfully about Foucault while making the analysis no more difficult than necessary. The chapters of the book are constructed around discussions of Foucault's major works. The chapters are thematic to the extent that those books dealt with specific ideas or subjects. In almost every case the author does a marvelous job of establishing the context of these works, how they depart from traditional discussions, how they provided innovative new ways of understanding our world, and what some of the more problematic aspects of the works are. This book clearly (and justifiably) notes that Foucault made some very important contributions that enable us to understand how problematic many of our unexamined assumptions about society are, but at the same time refuses to be a blind disciple. There are shortcomings to Foucault's work as well as some misconceptions. THis book is willing to acknowledge the former as it is to battle the latter.
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