The Normal and the Pathological (Paperback)

~ (Author), Carolyn R. Fawcett (Translator), Michel Foucault (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant and stimulating book."
— Howard L. Laye, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"When is a disease not a disease? ... Is it valid to talk of a person being ill without a disease or having a disease without being sick? All these problems—of definition, demarcation and decision—we feel are special to medicine today. It is chastening, therefore, to be reminded that the questions underlying them were being analyzed, with great perspicacity, by the French philosopher and historian of science, Georges Canguilhem, in a work written in 1943 and now gratifyingly back in print in an English translation."
— Roy Porter, London Review of Books

Product Description

Introduction by Michel Foucault

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Zone Books (October 28, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942299590
• ISBN-13: 978-0942299595
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,762 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration for Foucault, May 24, 2005

By	whyloo (NYC, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Canguilhem was Foucault's teacher, and this book "The Normal and the Pathological," was the foundation for Foucault's theories of the sociohistorical construction of what constitutes normality.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Normal and the Pathological is undeniably brilliant., December 19, 2008

By	E. Drake (Northeast, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It would seem that it takes a brilliant person to understand (or maybe just articulate) the obvious. Here the obvious, is that that which is perceived as pathological is only pathological in relation to that which is perceived as normal. To make this clear, for some, a homosexual person is perceived as a pathology (in this sense, simply out of the ordinary), yet in many societies (a few South East Asian countries, Ancient Greek and Japan, etc)it was a well accepted part of everyday life. To put this in medical terms, we only know that something is normal insofar as we understand its pathological state. Who is to say which is pathological then? To simplify this book (a bit too much), Pathology is relative.

Canguilhem points to the importance of the process and move between the normal and the pathological. Canguilhem writes what Indian and East Asian (and most "native/indigenous" societies have been writing and talking about for millenia: that is, that their are constructive and destructive forces in every slice of matter.

Who or what is it going to take for "The West" to come to terms with these ideas? Canguilhem understands it and writes it most clearly in this book. Read it and learn (sorry for the cliche) that death and life are not important, it is the process that is.

Mind you, this was my reading of the book. Canguilhem was a medical doctor, who writes quite scientifically (though not difficultly). He (I think) never makes a specific reference to a specific social phenomenon as I have with homosexuality. However, he was also trained in philosophy and very explicitly uses numerous philosophers to bring across his point and therefore quite obviously hints at his writings usage in the social sciences.