Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a major figure in the development of two successive waves of French thought in the 20th century: the structuralist wave of the 1960s and then the poststructuralist wave. At the premature end of his life, Foucault was widely considered to be one of the most prominent intellectuals in France.
During the German occupation, Foucault was educated in Poitiers. Foucault was a successful philosopher, and he had always wanted to pursue an academic career. His father, however, wanted him to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a doctor. However, Foucault was determined to pursue his own path and succeeded in defying his father. It is possible that the conflict with his father played a role in Foucault’s decision to drop the “Paul” from his name. The relationship between Foucault’s father and son remained cool throughout the latter’s life, though Foucault remained close to his mother.
Foucault moved to Paris in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II, in order to take entrance examinations for the École Normale Supérieure d’Ulm, the most prestigious institution for education in the humanities in France.
This preparatory year, Jean Hyppolite taught philosophy to the students. He is a highly esteemed French Hegelian, and his teachings are highly valued. Foucault entered the École Normale in 1946, where he was taught by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and mentored by Louis Althusser. Foucault studied both philosophy and psychology, obtaining qualifications in both fields.
While at the École Normale, Foucault also joined the French Communist Party in 1950 under the influence of Althusser, but was never active and was completely disappointed in 1952 with Althusser’s approval. Foucault collected and analyzed philosophical ideas at the École Normale in the early 1950s. In the same year, he began teaching at this university, where his students included Jacques Derrida, who would later become a philosophical opponent of Foucault’s.
Foucault began working as a psychologist’s laboratory researcher in the late 1960s. He worked as a psychologist until 1955, when he took up a position as the director of the Maison de France at the University of Uppsala in Sweden.
Between 1971 and 1984 Foucault wrote several works, including Surveiller et Punir: naissance de la prison (1975; Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of Prison), a study of the emergence of modern prison; three volumes of a history of western sexuality; and many articles. Foucault continued to travel extensively, and as his reputation grew, he spent extended periods in Brazil, Japan, Italy, Canada, and the United States.
In the same decade Foucault also became and activist and a writer covering political dilemmas, while also being on the forefront with his department composed of Marxist militants – which also led him to become a part of many political scandals.
One might wonder if Foucault is really a philosopher. His academic background is in psychology and the history of medical and social science disciplines, as well as in philosophy. His books are mainly histories of these fields. His interests lie in literary and political matters. Despite Foucault’s varied works, most can be read as part of a philosophical project, either in a new way or in response to the work of other philosophers.
He contracted AIDS in 1984 and his health rapidly deteriorated. He completed the compilation of two volumes on ancient sexuality published from his sickbed that year, leaving the fourth and final volume unfinished before his death.
