Michel Foucault: biography and contributions of this French thinker.

He was one of the most important thinkers in history and was very interested in psychology.

Historian, psychologist, philosopher and social theorist. Michel Foucault was one of the great thinkers of the 20th century.whose ideas generated a great impact and exerted a great influence on the entire French cultural environment of the time.

He was recognized worldwide for his ideas on social institutions, especially prisons, the health system and psychiatry, as well as for his studies on human sexuality. Ideas that, together with his own biography and work, we will review throughout this article.

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Brief biography of Michel Foucault.

Born on October 15, 1926 in the town of Poitiers, France, under the name of Paul-Michel Foucault, this prestigious French thinker grew up in a formal environment in which studies and knowledge were considered essential, since Foucault's father was a renowned French surgeon.

After an academic background full of ups and downs, Foucault managed to gain admission to the famous École Normande Supérieurerenowned as one of the cradles of France's best humanities scholars and thinkers.

His stay at the École Normande was one of his most difficult stages. After suffering from depression and several suicide attempts, Foucault was in the hands of a psychiatrist for a long time. During this period he acquired a great passion for psychology, which led him to graduate in both psychology and philosophy.

At the end of his university studies, Foucault got a teaching position at the École Normande. However, his stay in this position was brief, and he took a teaching position in psychology at the University of Lille, also in France.

After several more offices, Foucault returned to France with the intention of finishing his doctorate, during which time he accepted a position in the philosophy department at Clermont-Ferrand University.

Throughout this period of his life Foucault became a prolific writer, with most of his writings focusing on psychology, psychiatry and mental health.. While his later publications focused on topics related to politics, social issues and sexuality.

Overcoming structuralism and the last years

During the years in which he was interested in the structuralist current, Foucault was considered as part of the current, being on the same level as some other great thinkers such as Jacques Lacan or Claude Lévi-Strauss. Despite this, Foucault completely rejected the idea of being considered as an advocate of structuralism..

In 1968 the famous student revolts of May broke out, events that deeply marked Foucault and after which he got a position as head of the philosophy department of the newly created experimental university Paris VIII. From here began his years of strong political activism.

Finally, this philosopher was was elected to the prestigious academic body of the Collège de France.He became increasingly involved in political life and traveled around the world to give classes and lectures, including his famous lectures and interviews in the United States and Iran.

During the last years of his life Foucault was criticized for having changed his ideas and opinions continuously throughout his life, which he defended as a natural phenomenon due to experience and acquisition of knowledge.

Finally, Foucault died in 1984 of AIDS, but not before destroying a large part of his life.but not before destroying a large part of his manuscripts and strictly forbidding the publication of all those that could have "survived.

Power according to Foucault

Although Foucault's early focus was primarily on psychological and mental health issues, as well as the institutions that control them, his most important and recognized contributions are in the field of social science and politics.

Because he lived during a time of great change and social upheaval, Foucault was very interested in the present to which he belonged. He made exceptional reflections on the systems and power relations of the time.

First of all, it is necessary to specify that when speaking of power, Foucault is not only referring to power, but also to the power of the present. does not limit himself only to governmental or institutional power, but also encompasses the relations ofbut covers the power relations that occur in all spheres of society, also known as social power.

This social power is made up of a great web of small spheres of power, situated below the great powers such as the government or the church. According to Foucault, these subspheres of power are at different levels and rely on each other to manifest themselves in subtle and cunning ways.

However, according to the thinker himself, the main obstacle to carrying out a revolution is the maintenance of power relations as they were at the time, calling for an examination and analysis of these power relations of a social nature..

In one of his publications known as The Microphysics of Power (1980), Foucault reviews these power relations through two different dynamics of domination:

• ContractContract: materializes in oppressive and juridical power. It is based on the legitimacy of this power.
• Domination: it is established in terms of repression and submission.

Foucault insists that conflict is not only to be found in governmental power, but also in all the substructures with power relations within them that sustain it.

Following on from this idea, Foucault insists that the analysis of power relations should not start with governmental power, but must begin with the sub-structures that support it.Rather, it is necessary to begin with the smaller subspheres of power that nourish it and make its maintenance possible.

Finally, Foucault determines that the main role of thinkers is to be found within society, accompanying it in the struggle against the forms of power that exist within it.

Main works of this philosopher

As mentioned above, Foucault distinguished himself as a prolific writer. Below we review some of his most relevant works.

1. History of Madness in the Classical Age (1961)

Foucault's first relevant work, in it he analyzes and reviews the treatment given to the concept of madness throughout history, emphasizing the evolution of the treatment given to the sick person. the evolution of the treatment given to the sick person..

2. Words and Things (1966)

In this work by Foucault, the thinker reflects on how all historical periods are distinguished by a series of fundamental conditions of truth that establish what is acceptable, and how these conditions evolve and change throughout history. evolve and change over time..

3. The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969)

Another of the French thinker's most relevant works, in which he examines or analyzes the functionality and power of sentences as basic units of discourse.

4. To Watch and Punish (1975)

Throughout this work, an analysis and reflection on the functioning of penitentiary institutions is carried out, with the intention of understanding the evolution of the ways in which convicts are punished over the years.

5. History of Sexuality (1976, 1984)

This work by Foucault takes the form of three different volumes in which he reviews the use of sexuality as a regime of power, as well as the use of sexual pleasures throughout history.

When Foucault died in 1984, he was writing the fourth volume of these reflections, which focused on sexuality and Christianity.