Problems of Style

Walter Privitera is Professor of Sociology at the University of Calabria, Italy.

In this original reading, Privitera argues for a continuity in Foucault's work best seen when various themes and methodological strategies in his writings are traced back to the influence of Gaston Bachelard. The distinct stages in Foucault's development—from archaeology to genealogy and, finally, to the themes of subjectivization and normalization—can be viewed as different attempts to work out within the context of the human sciences insights and problems contained in Bachelard's constructivist philosophy of science. Moreover, by relating them to Bachelard's notions of philosophy and the creative spirit, Privitera is able to place in a new perspective the charge that Foucault's "anti-science" and "anti-humanism" undermine the possibility of critique. The result is a systematic, but not uncritical, interpretation of Foucault's entire corpus—including his treatment of power—in which both theory construction and emancipatory critique are primarily perceived as "problems of style.""This is an insightful work; more important though is the author's sympathy for Foucault's project(s). The author is a subtle thinker but never loses sight of the larger epistemological issues in question. I think he has done a very commendable job of explaining the details and nuances within Foucault's work without losing himself in the process." — Thomas Huhn, Wabash College

• Preface Preface to the American Edition Introduction 1. Bachelard's Historical Epistemology Scientific Progress and Traditional EpistemologyConstructionsInterregional Rationalism and DiscontinuityThe Epistemological ObstacleBachelard's Philosophy2. Foucault: The Early Writings and the Structuralist Period Dream AnalysisThe Dream, Madness, and the Critique of PsychologyThe Critique of the Human SciencesAnti-Science3. The Archaeology The Disintegration of ImmediacyStatement, Discourse, Rules of FormationThe Semiologization of the ImaginaryThe Neutralization of the Validity Problematic4. The Theory of Power The Dualism within PowerDescent and Emergence: The Dualism within GenealogyThe Will to Knowledge and Traditional EpistemologyPower and Life-PracticeThe Creative A Priori5. An Overview The Struggle for ObjectificationNew Subjects of StrugglesHidden NormativityFoucault's "Applied Rationalism"A Technology of Liberation?The Aesthetics of Existence6. Concluding Remarks Notes Bibliography Index