Michel Foucault

"The constitution of madness as a mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, affords the evidence of a broken dialogue, posits the separation as already effected, and thrusts into oblivion all those stammered, imperfect words without fixed syntax in which the exchange between madness and reason was made. The language of psychiatry, which is a monologue of reason about madness, has been established only on the basis of such a silence."

6 likes

Source: Michel Foucault, Keith Hoeller, Ludwig Binswanger, Jacob Needleman (1984). “Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry”

About the author

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault

Philosopher, Social Theorist

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher known for his critical studies of power, knowledge, and social institutions, particularly in works like 'The History of Sexuality'.

All quotes by Michel Foucault →

Same author

More quotes by Michel Foucault

See all →
Michel Foucault Philosopher, Social Theorist

"'Truth' is to be understood as a system of ordered procedures for the production, regulation, distribution, circulation and operation of statements. 'Truth' is linked in a circular relation with systems of power which produce and sustain it, and to effects of power which it induces and which extend it. A 'regime' of truth."

Read quote
Michel Foucault Philosopher, Social Theorist

"There is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations"

Read quote