Foucault on Freedom

Oksala identifies the different interpretations of freedom in Foucault's philosophy and examines its three major divisions.

Johanna Oksala (Author)

9780521847797, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 June 2005

238 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.53 kg

Review of the hardback: '… Foucault on Freedom provides cogent interpretations of Foucault's writing, excellent analysis of his relationship to major figures in the phenomenological tradition, and clearly elucidates his views on freedom. Readers interested in freedom, continental philosophy, and feminism will find it a helpful resource for exploring Foucault's philosophy.' The Journal of Value Inquiry

Freedom and the subject were guiding themes for Michel Foucault throughout his philosophical career. In this clear and comprehensive analysis of his thought, Johanna Oksala identifies the different interpretations of freedom in his philosophy and examines three major divisions of it: the archaeological, the genealogical, and the ethical. She shows convincingly that in order to appreciate Foucault's project fully we must understand his complex relationship to phenomenology, and she discusses Foucault's treatment of the body in relation to recent feminist work on this topic. Her sophisticated but lucid book illuminates the possibilities that Foucault's philosophy opens up for us in thinking about freedom.

Introduction
Part I. Language: 1. Philosophical laughter
2. The Foucaultian failure of phenomenology
3. The anonymity of language
Part II. Body: 4. A genealogy of the subject
5. Anarchic bodies
6. Female freedom
Part III. Ethics: 7. The silence of ethics
8. The freedom of philosophy
9. The other
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], History of Western philosophy [HPC]