Sexualität und Wahrheit 1. Der Wille zum Wissen

Paul-Michel Foucault was born on 15 October 1926 in Poitiers, the son of a distinguished family of doctors, and died on 25 June 1984 as a result of HIV infection. After his schooldays in Poitiers, he studied philosophy and psychology in Paris. In 1952, he began his professional career as a psychology assistant at the humanities faculty in Lille. In 1955, he was a lecturer at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. After holding directorships at institutes in Warsaw and Hamburg from 1958 to 1959, he returned to France in 1960, where he worked as a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of Clermont-Ferrand until 1966. During this period, his dissertation "Folie et déraison" appeared in 1961, titled "Madness and Society" in English. In it, he addressed the history of madness and the emergence of a demarcation between mental health and illness and the social mechanisms involved. In 1965 and 1966, he was a member of the Fouchet Commission, which was set up by the government to reform the higher education system. In 1966, "Les mots et les choses - Une archéologie des sciences humaines," translated as "The Order of Things," was published, in which he examined the history of science from the Renaissance to the 19th century using his discourse-analytical method. After a period as visiting professor in Tunis from 1965 to 1968, he worked at the Reform University of Vincennes from 1968 to 1970. In 1970, he was appointed professor for the history of systems of thought at the renowned Collège de France. At the same time, he attracted attention through his diverse political commitment. It was in this context that the study "Surveiller et punir," or "Surveillance and Punishment," was born. From 1975 to 1982, he undertook trips to Berkeley and Japan as well as to Iran and Poland.

Foucault's main interest is to explore the polymorphic techniques of power.