Knowledge archaeology

Author: Foucault
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Most of Foucault's research focuses on examining specific histories, uncovering numerous impactful thematic ideas. He fiercely critiques modern rational discourse. At the same time, Foucault's writing style is distinctly literary, rich in rhetoric, and filled with passion. This is also a key reason for his significant influence in the Western world. Using archaeological methods to trace the history of human knowledge seems to be pursuing traces that fall outside of time, now silent again today. This is essentially a description of discourse, but not a description of books, nor a description of theories, but rather a study of the everyday and mysterious totality of medicine, political economy, and biology as they manifest through time. This book aims to demonstrate the principles and results of a transformation taking place within a particular field of historical knowledge. The systems, determined boundaries, established contrasts, and correspondences described in the book are not based on ancient historiography; their purpose is to re-examine the questions of teleology and holism.