The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction Reissue Edition

by Michel Foucault (Author)

89 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0679724698

ISBN-10: 0679724699

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Michel Foucult offers an iconoclastic exploration of why we feel compelled to continually analyze and discuss sex, and of the social and mental mechanisms of power that cause us to direct the questions of what we are to what our sexuality is.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Care of the Self shares with the writings on which it draws the characteristic of being carefully constructed, exquisitely reasoned and internally cogent." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Foucault is a thinker from whose writing one can infer lessons for our modern lives and dilemmas."-- Boston Globe

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The author turns his attention to sex and the reasons why we are driven constantly to analyze and discuss it. An iconoclastic explanation of modern sexual history.

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Product details

Paperback: 168 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reissue edition (April 14, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679724699
ISBN-13: 978-0679724698
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 89 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Movements > Structuralism
- #12 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Social Theory
- #23 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Social Philosophy

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dreaming of the sun

Important reading

April 2, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

As a graduate student in French culture I knew that Foucault was very, very important and now I can see why. Important in understanding another culture but also, I think, helpful in learning that there is another way to view sexuality other than through the eyes of America and what we've been taught.

3 people found this helpful

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February 22, 2016

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Bought it for a class and was not disappointed. Came in great condition!

2 people found this helpful

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April 2, 2018

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Foucault reduces everything to power relations and overall the way he writes is hard to understand.

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February 18, 2018

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very interesting

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Andy Hahn

The nature of sexuality in Western society

January 26, 2013

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Foucault primarily focuses on the development of the concept of sexuality as it took on new meanings from the 17th century into modern times. He develops the concept of power structures in society that not only control but influence and expand the outworking of sexuality.

Foucault represents four distinct areas of concern developing in the 18th century (France?) as mechanisms for advancing power and knowledge of sex. These categories are; the hysterization of women’s bodies, pedagogization of children’s sex, psychiatrization of perverse pleasure, and socialization of procreative behavior. All these themes are developed and expanded in this work. His view point seems to be rather narrow and myopic from a historical basis. I was hoping for a more rounded approach to the subject.

5 people found this helpful

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X. Barnes

Really not a good translation, but

November 28, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Really not a good translation, but, unfortunately, the only English version available, as far as I know. Our professor complains bitterly about the irregular text.

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An important book by an important author

August 13, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The History of Sexuality, Volume !: An Introduction by Michel Foucault, is this major French thinker's last work, and since so many others have given a good sense of what the book is about, I will be brief. My only demur to their opinions is that while this may be his most popular book, it is not his best, or his most influential among scholars.

It is very important to note that this is not a history of sex. It is not even a history of talking about sex. It is a history of the way in which talking about sex was structured over the last three hundred years, his primary thesis being that contrary to popular belief, the Victorian era, roughly between 1835 and 1903, was NOT a period where talk about sex was repressed. To be sure, Freud and the other psychoanalysts made major influences in how we talk about sexuality, but Freud was as much a milestone as it was a cause of the change. The book is devoted to two critical shifts in attitudes about sex. The first was from the onset of legislation about sex early in the industrial age, to the formation of sexual archetypes or "types of sexuality". The second major shift, which contributed to the first, was the simultaneous change in the value put on human life. This was brought about by agricultural advances which abolished famine in many countries, and the advance in medicine which showed that by attending to good practices, one can substantially improve and lengthen one's life. This trend was embraced by governments, which discovered the need for lots of people to keep the new industries running.

Make no mistake. Foucault is difficult to read, but you have the assurance of those who have gone before that the journey is worth the effort. One nice perk of reading thie book is that you get a chance to read sn iportant contemporary thinker who is totally imbued with Nietzschean concepts. One can almost hear Nietzsche talking over Foucault's shoulder. Unforturnately, Foucault does not have Nietxaxhe's flair for writing sparkling prose.

I will warn you that the editor of this translation would have done us a favor by providing footnotes to explain some of Foucault's references, such as the fact that "The Plumed Serpent" was written by D. H. Laurance and that Jean Martin Charcot was the founder of scientific neurology, and Sigmund Freud's teacher at the Paris Saltpetraire hospital. Keep your Wikipedia open to look this stuff up as you read.

To soften the blow of Foucault's rather dense beginning, I suggest you read the last chapter first. It explains what it is that Foucault is all about.

8 people found this helpful

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Mimi Kite

Fast delivery. Interesting read!

February 23, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fast delivery. Interesting read!

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Most recent customer reviews

smieska

Five Stars

The reader is amazing.

Published 5 months ago

Amazon Customer

Would recommend Sparknotes.

A round of applause for all the students purchasing this book for class, especially you UChicago kids in sosc. RIP. Would recommend Sparknotes.

Published 11 months ago

Kevin Shau

Absolute Garbage

Michel Foucault is terribly overrated. His second-rate philosophy has spilled into the realm of history, something Foucault knew little about.Read more

Published 1 year ago

Amazon Customer

philosophical writing at its best

Love this philosophical style

Published 1 year ago

DJ Paul

The birth and rise of horrible scholarship and even worse theory

Let me tell you about some flaws to this horribly flawed piece of work. But first I will give the reader a general overview of the writing both in style and substance.Read more

Published 1 year ago

B. Ostiguy

I mainly bought this book for his treatment of Bio-power ...

I mainly bought this book for his treatment of Bio-power, an interesting concept that I can use for disability research.

Published on June 21, 2016

Marisa

Wouldn't read if I didn't have to.

Foucault is a pain to read, but affordable lol.

Published on June 10, 2016

Rafael Palacio

Five Stars

love it

Published on May 27, 2016

Olivia

Wrong Cover...

The book was the one I wanted and the quality was acceptable, but I wanted this cyber arty rather than the other one and thought that's what I was getting. Guess not.

Published on May 14, 2016

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