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Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault

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Madness and Civilization

A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Michel Foucault

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · November 28, 1988

Reading lane: Social Theory

Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 - from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Boundaries of Madness

A layered history of how Western ideas about madness shifted from everyday presence to confinement.

Come here for

  • A long view of changing ideas about insanity
  • The historical turn toward asylums and separation

Expect

  • A sweep from 1500 to 1800
  • Attention to the boundary drawn between the insane and others

Book Details

Authors
Michel Foucault
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published
November 28, 1988
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Social Theory · Schizophrenia
Reading lane
Social Theory

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • European History

  • Structuralism

  • Social Theory

About This Book

Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 - from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.

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