PHIL 481: Topics in Philosophy: Foucault
Instructor: Chloë Taylor
Time: Tuesday, Thursday: 4:05-5:25
Place: Leacock 31
Office:
Office hours: Tuesday 1:30-3:30
Email: chloe.taylor@utoronto.ca
Description:
This course will serve as an introduction to the philosophy of Michel Foucault. We will
begin with his first major work, Madness and Civilization, and continue to his final works
on the care of the self, paying particular attention to the genealogical period during which
Foucault’s most influential works were written. Along the way, key Foucauldian
concepts such as archaeology and genealogy, the death of “man,” disciplinary power,
biopower, micropolitics, and normalization will be introduced. Topics to be explored
include madness, punishment, truth, history, sexuality, confession, self-knowledge and
self-care. Throughout the course, we will try to understand why Foucault was concerned
by the historical emergence of the human sciences, and the psychological disciplines in
particular (psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis), and with the manners in which these
disciplines and discourses have become increasingly entangled with medicine, law,
punishment, education, sexuality, and the experiences of subjectivity and self-knowledge
in Western society. We will also consider some of the ways in which Foucault’s
philosophy has been taken up by feminists and queer theorists.
Required texts:
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
The History of Sexuality: An Introduction
Coursepack of readings
*The coursepack will be made available in both English and French. Books will be
available in English at The Word bookstore, and are widely available in Montréal in
French (Histoire de la folie, Surveiller et Punir, La volonté de savoir).
Method of Evaluation:
3 (5-7 page) papers* – 30% each
Attendance and participation – 10%
*Due dates for papers are: October 16th, November 13th, and December 4th.
Schedule of Topics and Readings:
September 4: Introduction – view Chomsky versus Foucault debate (1974)
Part One: Early Foucault
September 6: Madness and Civilization: Chapters I-III (1961)
September 11: Madness and Civilization: Chapters IV-VI
September 13: Madness and Civilization: Chapters VII-IV and Conclusion
Part Two: Archaeology
September 18: The Order of Things, Preface, and “Las Meninas” (1966)
September 20: The Order of Things, “The Human Sciences” (1966) – First paper topics
distributed
Part Three: Genealogy
September 25: “Nietzsche, Genealogy, History” (1971)
September 27: Sovereign Power vs. Disciplinary Power: Psychiatric Power, pp. 42-73
October 2: Panopticism and the Family: Psychiatric Power (1973), pp. 73-87; Ellen
Feder, “Disciplining the Family: The Case of Gender Identity Disorder”
October 4: Discipline and Punish, Part I, “The Body of the Condemned” (1975)
October 9: Class Cancelled (Monday schedule, due to Thanksgiving)
October 11: Class Cancelled (CSWIP)
October 16: Discipline and Punish, Part II, “Generalized Punishment” – First papers due
October 18: Discipline and Punish, Part III, “Docile Bodies,” “The Means of Correct
Training” – Second paper topics distributed
October 23: Discipline and Punish, Part IV
October 25: Foucault and Feminism: Sandra Bartky, “Foucault, Femininity, and the
Modernization of Patriarchal Power”
October 30: The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Parts I-II (1976)
November 1: The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Part III
November 6: The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Part IV
November 8: Class Cancelled (SPEP)
November 13: The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Part V – Second papers due
November 15:– Foucault and Queer Theory: Ladelle McWhorter, “Views from the Site
of Political Oppression”Third paper topics distributed
November 20: Society Must Be Defended (“Two Lectures”), pp. 1-40 (1976)
November 22: Psychiatry, Law, and Sex Crimes: “The Dangerous Individual” (1978), pp.
125-140. OPTIONAL: “Confinement, Psychiatry, Prison” (1977), esp. pp. 179193, 197, 200-210; “Sexual Morality and the Law” (1978)
Part Four: The Final Foucault
November 27: “On the Genealogy of Ethics: An Overview of Work in Progress” (1983)
November 29: Introduction to The Use of Pleasure (1984)
December 4: “What is Enlightenment?” (1984) Review/Conclusion – Third papers due