Foucault and Classical Antiquity: Power, Ethics and Knowledge

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Foucault and Classical Antiquity: Power, Ethics and Knowledge
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Wolfgang Detel
Translated by David Wigg-Wolf
SeriesModern European Philosophy
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:292
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreWestern philosophy - Ancient to c 500
ISBN/Barcode 9780521179720
ClassificationsDewey:194
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 4 November 2010
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This 2005 book is a critical examination of Michel Foucault's relation to ancient Greek thought, in particular his famous analysis of Greek history of sexuality. Wolfgang Detel offers an understanding of Foucault's theories of power and knowledge based on modern analytical theories of science and concepts of power. He offers a complex reading of the texts which Foucault discusses, covering topics such as Aristotle's ethics and theory of sex, Hippocratic dietetics, the earliest treatises on economics, and Plato's theory of love. The result is a philosophically rich and probing critique of Foucault's later writings, and a persuasive account of the relation between ethics, power and knowledge in classical antiquity. His book will have a wide appeal to readers interested in Foucault and in Greek thought and culture.

Author Biography

Wolfgang Detel is Professor of Philosophy at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt.