Synopses & Reviews
What does it mean to be mad? In Madness and Civilization, perhaps his masterpiece, Michel Foucault examines the archaeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 — from the Middle Ages, when insanity was considered part of everyday life and fools and crazies walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and a wall was erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.
Review
"Foucault's book belongs, both by reason of its content and its profundity, in the class of such treatises — at once historical, scientific, and ethical — as Norman O. Brown's Life Against Death." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Superb scholarship rendered with artistry."
-- The Nation
Synopsis
Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 - from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.
About the Author
One of the leading intellectuals of the twentieth century and the most prominent thinker in post-war France, Foucault's work influenced disciplines as diverse as history, sociology, philosophy, sociology and literary criticism.