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Cours au Collège de France/Lectures at the Collège de France #5
Die Anormalen. Vorlesungen am Collège de France, 1974–1975
In dieser Vorlesung am Collège de France, die thematisch in engem Zusammenhang mit Überwachen und Strafen steht, beschäftigt sich Foucault mit Personengruppen, die gesellschaftlich als anormal stigmatisiert worden sind. Dazu zählen, in der Reihenfolge ihres historischen Auftretens, die Monstren wie z. B. Hermaphroditen oder siamesische Zwillinge, die Korrektionsbedürftigen wie z. B. Straftäter und schließlich die Onanisten. An ihnen untersucht er das Auftauchen von Normalisierungstechniken zusammen mit den neu entstehenden Machtformen. Die Art und Weise, wie sie sich ausgebildet und installiert haben, ohne sich jemals auf eine einzige Institution zu stützen, und das Spiel, das sie zwischen den verschiedenen Institutionen betreiben, haben, so Foucault, unsere Gesellschaft bis heute zutiefst geprägt.
476 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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About the author
Michel Foucault
763 books6,469 followersPaul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationships between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Though often cited as a structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels. His thought has influenced academics, especially those working in communication studies, anthropology, psychology, sociology, criminology, cultural studies, literary theory, feminism, Marxism and critical theory.
Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV, at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser, and at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he earned degrees in philosophy and psychology. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961). After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications that displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".
From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault was admitted to the Collège de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also became active in several left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods that emphasized the role that power plays in society.
Foucault died in Paris from complications of HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from complications of the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.
Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV, at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser, and at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he earned degrees in philosophy and psychology. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961). After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications that displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".
From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault was admitted to the Collège de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also became active in several left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods that emphasized the role that power plays in society.
Foucault died in Paris from complications of HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from complications of the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 1, 2018
Ερευνώντας πολλές και ποικίλες πηγές (εκκλησιαστικές, νομικές και ιατρικές), ο Φουκώ μελετάει το πρόβλημα των επίφοβων εκείνων ατόμων που ο 19ος αι. ονόμασε "les anormaux", "οι ανώμαλοι", οι μη κανονικοί. Διακρίνει τρεις βασικούς τύπους: το τέρας, τον αδιόρθωτο και τον αυνανιζόμενο. Μέσα από τη μελέτη αυτών των τύπων, και στο πλαίσιο πάντα της γενικότερης προβληματικής του για τη σχέση γνώσης και εξουσίας, εκείνο που ενδιαφέρει τον Φουκώ είναι να κατανοήσει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο διαμορφώθηκε στη νεότερη Δύση η έννοια της μη κανονικότητας.
September 7, 2013
Probably useless until you've read "Discipline and Punish," but the digestible bites of lecture (this series essentially reproduces his actual course lectures) help make his thinking about power far more accessible. Since actually very few bits cross over from his books, you really get a whole thesis or two out of this course. For Abnormal, that's the idea that a psychiatric expert witness in a courtroom is a curious thing if you just look at the law: a shrink can't tell you whether Joe shot Bob who runs the laundromat, just whether he's an "antisocial person with violent tendencies and an aversion to cleanliness." In the end, legal guilt is usually understood to be about whether Joe actually pulled the trigger; but the battle over a diagnosis may take over the discussion.
From that idea, Foucault pulls out his whole bag of tricks, attempting to trace (among so very many other things, but this is my attempt at clarifying the inherently wild and wooly) how the mental health profession got to that very curious, but totally unremarked point. So you leap back to whole outlines of histories of power: religion (back when studying the conscience was a matter of theology, not social science) and legal power, religion and social power, the history of penitence and confession, the replacement of "alienists" (who saw mental disturbance as solely a matter of fantastic delusions) with psychiatrists (who saw it more as a defect of the will, opening the door to call EVERYONE a little bit abnormal--because who among us is always in control of their own thoughts and feelings?), histories of earlier witch hunts vs. later outbreaks of possession (hint: calling someone a witch is a great way to attack someone who isn't in the in group, but most possessed folk in the stuff he reads are educated and devoutly religious, and you don't have to HUNT for someone yelling obscenities against God in the living room), along with a whole stack of other kooky mental/spiritual/criminal anecdotes and asides.
In the end, Foucault is trying to talk (as usual) about the transition to the modern, because in our present era we take the forms of things for granted. In these lectures, he settles on this progression from the study of "monsters" (who flout concepts of natural law by their very existence--very creepy to earlier societies dependent on said law) to the merely "abnormal", who are so common we may as well include the whole human race. By the end, he's zeroing in on masturbation, the ultimate abnormality, since 19th century doctors admitted that pretty much everyone does it and yet still had the chutzpah to call it worst and most unnatural of all diseases. He leaves off hinting strongly at Freud and the formation of the modern nuclear family, but it's our job to connect the dots: Foucault is strongest when he gives you a lens for the world. At best, he makes you look at things around you a lot more weirdly than ever before, see anything from a gym class to a juvenile delinquent to a confessional booth (total blip in the 16th century. confession was never quite that way in the first millennium and a few centuries) to a Newsweek article in a way stranger than ever before.
From that idea, Foucault pulls out his whole bag of tricks, attempting to trace (among so very many other things, but this is my attempt at clarifying the inherently wild and wooly) how the mental health profession got to that very curious, but totally unremarked point. So you leap back to whole outlines of histories of power: religion (back when studying the conscience was a matter of theology, not social science) and legal power, religion and social power, the history of penitence and confession, the replacement of "alienists" (who saw mental disturbance as solely a matter of fantastic delusions) with psychiatrists (who saw it more as a defect of the will, opening the door to call EVERYONE a little bit abnormal--because who among us is always in control of their own thoughts and feelings?), histories of earlier witch hunts vs. later outbreaks of possession (hint: calling someone a witch is a great way to attack someone who isn't in the in group, but most possessed folk in the stuff he reads are educated and devoutly religious, and you don't have to HUNT for someone yelling obscenities against God in the living room), along with a whole stack of other kooky mental/spiritual/criminal anecdotes and asides.
In the end, Foucault is trying to talk (as usual) about the transition to the modern, because in our present era we take the forms of things for granted. In these lectures, he settles on this progression from the study of "monsters" (who flout concepts of natural law by their very existence--very creepy to earlier societies dependent on said law) to the merely "abnormal", who are so common we may as well include the whole human race. By the end, he's zeroing in on masturbation, the ultimate abnormality, since 19th century doctors admitted that pretty much everyone does it and yet still had the chutzpah to call it worst and most unnatural of all diseases. He leaves off hinting strongly at Freud and the formation of the modern nuclear family, but it's our job to connect the dots: Foucault is strongest when he gives you a lens for the world. At best, he makes you look at things around you a lot more weirdly than ever before, see anything from a gym class to a juvenile delinquent to a confessional booth (total blip in the 16th century. confession was never quite that way in the first millennium and a few centuries) to a Newsweek article in a way stranger than ever before.
August 7, 2022
After trying to read some of Foucault's classical works, I was somehow afraid to get on this one, because his sometimes very meandering writing (very hard to follow or to understand). But the title was so appealing, I had to give it a try.
And I didn't regret it. The writing is COMPLETELY different. Short phrases. Clear paragraphs. Structure. I loved reading it. This was a very engaging lecture. Populated with a lot of examples.
The whole history of the masturbating monster which began at the beginning of the XVIII century. The masturbating monster (=the child) and his family. The monsters before (hermaphrodites).
I found some of his sources (The treaties on masturbation by Deslandes - 1935 and the writing on homosexuality from 1869: der Arzt Carl Westphal was the first to introduce the term of "konträre sexuelle Empfindung").
This was a very interesting and mind-blowing book, I learned a lot of stuff about the genealogy of abnormality (jeeee, this sounds very foucaultian :)) ). I highly recommend this book, but be warned - there are very vivid descriptions of stuff. You will probably ask yourself - what took him so long if it was that good - well, I took a long break. My plan was at first to read a lecture pro week (there are 11)
And I didn't regret it. The writing is COMPLETELY different. Short phrases. Clear paragraphs. Structure. I loved reading it. This was a very engaging lecture. Populated with a lot of examples.
The whole history of the masturbating monster which began at the beginning of the XVIII century. The masturbating monster (=the child) and his family. The monsters before (hermaphrodites).
I found some of his sources (The treaties on masturbation by Deslandes - 1935 and the writing on homosexuality from 1869: der Arzt Carl Westphal was the first to introduce the term of "konträre sexuelle Empfindung").
This was a very interesting and mind-blowing book, I learned a lot of stuff about the genealogy of abnormality (jeeee, this sounds very foucaultian :)) ). I highly recommend this book, but be warned - there are very vivid descriptions of stuff. You will probably ask yourself - what took him so long if it was that good - well, I took a long break. My plan was at first to read a lecture pro week (there are 11)
November 2, 2019
Įdomu skaityti - daugiau negu kitose Foucault knygose (paskaitų serijose) pasakojama atvejų ir analizuojama. Kaip pakinta (vėlgi modernybėje - nuo 16 amžiaus iki 20) nenormalumas (kas buvo/ yra monstras), norma (kam kūnas ir koks jis, ir kaip jį taisyti, kad būtų reikalingas visuomenei, o ne šiaip gyvuotų ir mėgautųsi). Apsėdimo samprata - kaip ji pasitarnavo išstūmimo mechanizmams, masturbacijos išstūmimas iš normos, etc. Kaip ir kitais kartais skaitant Foucault - tarsi ir nuspėji, ką jis čia teigs, bet vis tiek tos istorinės detalės-argumentai yra tokie geri, kad norisi dar skaityti, net ir tą patį.
February 4, 2025
hay q analizar nosferatu con esto jiji
June 1, 2018
Manches kommt einen aus bisherigen Vorlesungsreihen bekannt vor, aber manches wie die Beschreibung des Zusammenhangs von (Wissens)Diskursen und Macht sind sehr interessant, etwa in der folgenden Kette: Veränderung der Strafsysteme -> Natur vs. Gesellschaft, Gesellschaftsvertrag -> Krimineller als Despot, König als Despot, König und Krimineller außerhalb des Gesellschaftsvertrages, beide Monster -> Prozess gegen Louis XVI und Marie Antoinette -> Beginn von Berichten über angebliches Bluttrinken von Louis XVI, Inzest bei Marie Antoinette, also Anthropophagie (Kannibalismus) und Inzest der beiden Monster -> über Durkheim gelangen so die Anthropophagie und der Inzest in die Anthropologie, wo sie bis heute zentrale Themen bleiben.
Auch die Herleitung der Kernfamilie direkt aus den Anti-Masturbationskampagnen (denen Foucault die Pastoralmacht voranstellt und die Entwicklung anhand der christlichen Beichte nachzeichnet) geht in diese Richtung und ist interessant, wenn auch mir persönlich nicht plausibel genug. Denn was ist mit der Entwicklung der Kernfamilien, in denen es keine Anti-Masturbationskampagnen gab? Hier wäre ein anderer Ansatz notwendig.
Alles in allem führt aber Foucault auch hier seine gut lesbaren Vorlesungen in sehr informativer Weise fort.
Auch die Herleitung der Kernfamilie direkt aus den Anti-Masturbationskampagnen (denen Foucault die Pastoralmacht voranstellt und die Entwicklung anhand der christlichen Beichte nachzeichnet) geht in diese Richtung und ist interessant, wenn auch mir persönlich nicht plausibel genug. Denn was ist mit der Entwicklung der Kernfamilien, in denen es keine Anti-Masturbationskampagnen gab? Hier wäre ein anderer Ansatz notwendig.
Alles in allem führt aber Foucault auch hier seine gut lesbaren Vorlesungen in sehr informativer Weise fort.
June 28, 2025
Para Judith Butler, na construção das nossas identidade generificadas temos dois polos: o performativo e o abjeto. O abjeto é aquilo que buscamos nos afastar, por diversas motivações. Pensando nisso, fui buscar o que Michel Foucault pensava sobre essa categoria. Neste livro, os anormais, o filósofo francês traz três categorias da anormalidade cunhadas a partir do século XVII: o monstro moral, as pessoas incorrigíveis, no caso os criminosos, e a criança e o adolescente masturbador. Os três causam pânico na sociedade humana ocidental desde essa época. Michel Foucault traz uma análise magistral, de leitura empolgante, com insights maravilhosos nesse tema, sempre crítico com a sociedade e principalmente com a psiquiatrização da mesma. As partes que não gostei muito foram os "cases" criminais, e que se relacionam mais com a parte da judicialização, mas entendo como são importantes para a construção do raciocínio e da argumentação conduzida aqui. Um livro sensacional e muito impactante. Adorei!
September 28, 2024
Este brilhante “tratado” sobre as origens da psiquiatria e o seu jogo de poder até se ter tornado, na atualidade, algo tão presente na nossa sociedade, explica na perfeição o mecanismo da existência desta vertente médica. Perceber como através dos alienistas, passando pelo poder da igreja na mente das bruxas e possuídos, o papel dos assassinos, dos degenerados, da sexualidade, culminando nos racismos da segunda guerra mundial, mostra, mesmo, a odisseia psiquiátrica até aos nossos dias.
Este é provavelmente dos livros que mais me marcou até à data e, sem dúvida, (espero) acompanhar-me-á ao longo de anos e anos de estudos. Este livro mostra o caminho imenso que ainda há a desbravar.
Este é provavelmente dos livros que mais me marcou até à data e, sem dúvida, (espero) acompanhar-me-á ao longo de anos e anos de estudos. Este livro mostra o caminho imenso que ainda há a desbravar.
June 23, 2024
Occasionally quite odd to read - due in part to the nature of transcribing lectures and publishing them as books, and in part to the curiosities of translation (I've learned many mostly useless new words in my native language, and shudder at the thought of doing the same in French) - but absolutely fascinating. I've brought these ideas up in conversation several times already, and have been pleased by how easily understood they were, despite Foucault and his translator insisting on my learning words like etiology and concupiscence and onanism.
June 7, 2021
yo? foucaultiana como cualquier persona del bien
February 22, 2013
Some interesting ideas presented in the first chapter: 1) the construction of a penal system as a regime of universal truth, 2) the privileging of police and scientific statements w/in the courtroom, 3) role of doctor-judge (doctors & psychiatrist), 4) techniques of normalization to reform or cure individuals categorized as delinquent or abnormal, 5) how do these techniques enter the courtroom and the bodipolitic?
The second chapter focuses on the methods and conceptualizations that creates the category of "abnormal." He notes dichotomies like illness and responsibility, therapy and punishment. There have been two historic methods in dealing with the undesired: exclusion (for purification) and quarantine (to monitor). These methods are divided between negative and positive techniques, both normalization projects.
The third lecture discusses the three areas that construct the domain of "abnormality": the human monster, the individual to be corrected, and the masturbator. The historical construction of the monster as a violation of nature. Foucault focuses on the persecution of intersex people. He argues that the judicial-medical system shifted the definition of "the monster" to a criminal status of character.
The fourth lecture discusses the narrative of the moral monster. In the 19th c. a new economy of punitive power develops in which crime and punishment must now communicate. If the criminal character is now categorized as a monster, the judicial system must describe the criminal act (aberration of nature) as a "transgression of law" and identify the "interest" or the crime's raison d'etre.
The fifth lecture describes the fusion of the judicial-medical system. The judicial needs to identify the criminal's raison d'etre (motive) in which the inclusion of the psychiatrist becomes necessary in order to identify a reason for an unthinkable crime. In the absence of interest (motive), the knowing subject (the psychologist or judge) identify the interest and the measure of punishment. Psychoanalysis develops the technology of instincts.
The sixth lecture focuses on how psychiatric power developed outside of the asylum, establishing a system to regulate public hygiene and safety. The psychiatric diagnosis does not have to prove that a person is "mad," but dangerous. Foucault also describes the relationship that develops between a patient’s family and the psychiatrist, in which the psychiatrists is constituted as familial protector.
Lectures seven to ten offer an overview of ideas that are later seen in The History of Sexuality 1: An Introduction. The final lecture discusses the technology of psychiatry and the discourse they promote. The psychiatrist creates a discursive practice that constitutes the abnormal. The abnormal becomes a racialized body in which the individual carries “a condition, a stigmata, or any defect whatsoever” that can be transmitted through blood. Foucault states, “It is racism, therefore, whose function is not so much the prejudice or defense of one group against another as the detection of all those within the group who may be the screening of every individual within a given society.” (317) In other words, this marks the construction of an omnipresent biopolitics. The psychiatrist seeks to identify the motive for "instinctual madness" and the pathological process that leads to a "criminal" act. The process and act are determined by two characteristics: excess and deficiency. The excess is the moment that "marks that pathological functioning of the instinct" that impels the act. But it is not the act that marks the abnormal, it is the process. In order to identify the process, the psychiatrist has to determine what the abnormal lacks in the form of arrested development. Like usual, Foucault is interested in discussing what leads to the creation of a certain category, weaving through the discourse of modernity. You cannot create an alternative unless you understand what constructed the shit you want to destroy. I do not agree with every point that Foucault makes, but I appreciate and find interesting how he presents his arguments.
The second chapter focuses on the methods and conceptualizations that creates the category of "abnormal." He notes dichotomies like illness and responsibility, therapy and punishment. There have been two historic methods in dealing with the undesired: exclusion (for purification) and quarantine (to monitor). These methods are divided between negative and positive techniques, both normalization projects.
The third lecture discusses the three areas that construct the domain of "abnormality": the human monster, the individual to be corrected, and the masturbator. The historical construction of the monster as a violation of nature. Foucault focuses on the persecution of intersex people. He argues that the judicial-medical system shifted the definition of "the monster" to a criminal status of character.
The fourth lecture discusses the narrative of the moral monster. In the 19th c. a new economy of punitive power develops in which crime and punishment must now communicate. If the criminal character is now categorized as a monster, the judicial system must describe the criminal act (aberration of nature) as a "transgression of law" and identify the "interest" or the crime's raison d'etre.
The fifth lecture describes the fusion of the judicial-medical system. The judicial needs to identify the criminal's raison d'etre (motive) in which the inclusion of the psychiatrist becomes necessary in order to identify a reason for an unthinkable crime. In the absence of interest (motive), the knowing subject (the psychologist or judge) identify the interest and the measure of punishment. Psychoanalysis develops the technology of instincts.
The sixth lecture focuses on how psychiatric power developed outside of the asylum, establishing a system to regulate public hygiene and safety. The psychiatric diagnosis does not have to prove that a person is "mad," but dangerous. Foucault also describes the relationship that develops between a patient’s family and the psychiatrist, in which the psychiatrists is constituted as familial protector.
Lectures seven to ten offer an overview of ideas that are later seen in The History of Sexuality 1: An Introduction. The final lecture discusses the technology of psychiatry and the discourse they promote. The psychiatrist creates a discursive practice that constitutes the abnormal. The abnormal becomes a racialized body in which the individual carries “a condition, a stigmata, or any defect whatsoever” that can be transmitted through blood. Foucault states, “It is racism, therefore, whose function is not so much the prejudice or defense of one group against another as the detection of all those within the group who may be the screening of every individual within a given society.” (317) In other words, this marks the construction of an omnipresent biopolitics. The psychiatrist seeks to identify the motive for "instinctual madness" and the pathological process that leads to a "criminal" act. The process and act are determined by two characteristics: excess and deficiency. The excess is the moment that "marks that pathological functioning of the instinct" that impels the act. But it is not the act that marks the abnormal, it is the process. In order to identify the process, the psychiatrist has to determine what the abnormal lacks in the form of arrested development. Like usual, Foucault is interested in discussing what leads to the creation of a certain category, weaving through the discourse of modernity. You cannot create an alternative unless you understand what constructed the shit you want to destroy. I do not agree with every point that Foucault makes, but I appreciate and find interesting how he presents his arguments.
May 5, 2011
I actually found this particular Lecture series to be quite fascinating. Foucault traces the origins of abnormality (or the "abnormal individual") in 3 figures: the human monster, the incorrigible individual, and the masturbator. Most importantly, how the production of these three subjects was indispensable to the development of modern psychiatry and psychiatric discourse. If you are new to Foucault, this book is an excellent precursor to the major ideas/concepts he discusses in works such as the History of Sexuality- notably his concept of biopolitics.
May 13, 2025
Los anormales es un curso impartido por Foucault entre enero y marzo de 1975 adaptado a un formato escrito, se encuentra constituido por 11 clases, un resumen del curso completo y una contextualización llamada “Situación del curso”, además de un índice de conceptos, otro de nombres y personas, y el índice general con nociones de lo que trata cada clase.
En conjunto el autor trata de personificar el concepto del anormal desde la concepción de monstruo, de los onanistas y de los incorregibles, aunque de estos últimos se menciona sustancialmente menos que de sus pares. Es un curso interesante que permite esbozar el concepto de anormal con una perspectiva judicial y una perspectiva psiquiátrica. Sin embargo, se queda corto en algunos elementos como los cimientos sociales que crean a la concepción de estos anormales y es innecesariamente minucioso en elementos que, sin ser irrelevantes, no se centran como tal en la temática de los anormales como ocurre con todo el proceso de confesión, donde hay una gran cantidad de citas y mecanismos que a la larga no contribuyen de manera directa al curso, ya que lo que se busca en primera instancia es hacer la conexión entre la confesión eclesiástica, con la confesión judicial y finalmente al confesión médica. Mientras que, por otro lado, busca exponer como se estructura el mecanismo de control social que él mismo deduce de este fenómeno.
Como dije, un curso interesante y probablemente innovador para su contexto, pero no es lo ideal si uno busca comprender al anormal, con el sentido de ajeno a lo normativo, y a la vivencia del mismo en su espacio social.
En conjunto el autor trata de personificar el concepto del anormal desde la concepción de monstruo, de los onanistas y de los incorregibles, aunque de estos últimos se menciona sustancialmente menos que de sus pares. Es un curso interesante que permite esbozar el concepto de anormal con una perspectiva judicial y una perspectiva psiquiátrica. Sin embargo, se queda corto en algunos elementos como los cimientos sociales que crean a la concepción de estos anormales y es innecesariamente minucioso en elementos que, sin ser irrelevantes, no se centran como tal en la temática de los anormales como ocurre con todo el proceso de confesión, donde hay una gran cantidad de citas y mecanismos que a la larga no contribuyen de manera directa al curso, ya que lo que se busca en primera instancia es hacer la conexión entre la confesión eclesiástica, con la confesión judicial y finalmente al confesión médica. Mientras que, por otro lado, busca exponer como se estructura el mecanismo de control social que él mismo deduce de este fenómeno.
Como dije, un curso interesante y probablemente innovador para su contexto, pero no es lo ideal si uno busca comprender al anormal, con el sentido de ajeno a lo normativo, y a la vivencia del mismo en su espacio social.
September 18, 2025
Se puede decir mucho de este libro, casi escribir un tfg, pero no aquí, posiblemente nadie lea esto.
Foucault hace un análisis histórico de las tecnologías de poder en relación a la clasificación, control y juicio de los anormales. No es fácil ser un anormal, entender que a los ojos de los que se ajustan a estos mecanismos de normalidad, tú eres una anomalía, deberías ser regulado, les incomodas y te lo recuerdan desde su posición de poder.
Una de las observaciones de F es la responsabilidad de la familia como espacio de control y de contención del anormal (el monstruo, el poseido, el masturbardor, el alterado psíquico, etc). Otro punto muy importante es la conclusión de que estas tecnologías de ordenación y normalización son ejercidas a partir del s.XIX por la psiquiatría, asumida como saber médico y científico y sostenedora de la relación normal-anormal bajo sus criterios dudosos. No me detendré en la ambigüedad de esta crítica con la figura de Freud en su discurso.
Se ha continuar criticando estas entidades de señalamiento-juicio-control del presente:
Psiquiatria (medicación para todo, creación de adicciones a cualquier cosa imaginable, terapias específicas a cualquier nuevo evento o diagnóstico, clínicas especializadas...)
Lo fitness, lo suplemento, lo alimenticio... (cuerpo sano, cuerpo malo)
Redes sociales y cacerías personales
El movimiento libre de los ciudadanos y mensajes de criminalidad
Etc
Foucault hace un análisis histórico de las tecnologías de poder en relación a la clasificación, control y juicio de los anormales. No es fácil ser un anormal, entender que a los ojos de los que se ajustan a estos mecanismos de normalidad, tú eres una anomalía, deberías ser regulado, les incomodas y te lo recuerdan desde su posición de poder.
Una de las observaciones de F es la responsabilidad de la familia como espacio de control y de contención del anormal (el monstruo, el poseido, el masturbardor, el alterado psíquico, etc). Otro punto muy importante es la conclusión de que estas tecnologías de ordenación y normalización son ejercidas a partir del s.XIX por la psiquiatría, asumida como saber médico y científico y sostenedora de la relación normal-anormal bajo sus criterios dudosos. No me detendré en la ambigüedad de esta crítica con la figura de Freud en su discurso.
Se ha continuar criticando estas entidades de señalamiento-juicio-control del presente:
Psiquiatria (medicación para todo, creación de adicciones a cualquier cosa imaginable, terapias específicas a cualquier nuevo evento o diagnóstico, clínicas especializadas...)
Lo fitness, lo suplemento, lo alimenticio... (cuerpo sano, cuerpo malo)
Redes sociales y cacerías personales
El movimiento libre de los ciudadanos y mensajes de criminalidad
Etc
July 8, 2020
Remarquable comme tout Foucault.
Voici en guise de revue un paragraphe pris au hasard de mon brouillon de notes pour le mémoire. Le livre s'intéresse plus généralement à l'entrée de la psychiatrie dans le monde judiciaire, mais cela n'est pas mon domaine.
C’est la combinaison de ces deux éléments—« l’écart à la norme de conduite et le degré d’enfoncement dans l’automatique » (p. 147)—qui constituent pour Foucault les deux critères fondamentaux de la maladie mentale telle qu’elle est redéfinie dans la psychiatrie à partir des années 1850. Cette nouvelle conceptualisation se substitue à celle plus contenue de la folie, qui jusqu’à Esquirol interrogeait la perturbation du rapport de la personne avec la réalité. On voit clairement dans cette réforme une normalisation curative qui met l’évaluation et la détermination de la psychopathologie en relation avec la société : ce qui compte dans cette nouvelle psychiatrie, c’est la traduction des processus mentaux en actions potentiellement dangereuses, et le degré de responsabilité que portent ces actions en fonction de leur caractère volontaire ou non. « En bref, l’ensemble des conduites peut désormais être interrogé sans qu’on ait à se référer, pour les pathologiser, à une aliénation de la pensée » (p. 148).
Voici en guise de revue un paragraphe pris au hasard de mon brouillon de notes pour le mémoire. Le livre s'intéresse plus généralement à l'entrée de la psychiatrie dans le monde judiciaire, mais cela n'est pas mon domaine.
C’est la combinaison de ces deux éléments—« l’écart à la norme de conduite et le degré d’enfoncement dans l’automatique » (p. 147)—qui constituent pour Foucault les deux critères fondamentaux de la maladie mentale telle qu’elle est redéfinie dans la psychiatrie à partir des années 1850. Cette nouvelle conceptualisation se substitue à celle plus contenue de la folie, qui jusqu’à Esquirol interrogeait la perturbation du rapport de la personne avec la réalité. On voit clairement dans cette réforme une normalisation curative qui met l’évaluation et la détermination de la psychopathologie en relation avec la société : ce qui compte dans cette nouvelle psychiatrie, c’est la traduction des processus mentaux en actions potentiellement dangereuses, et le degré de responsabilité que portent ces actions en fonction de leur caractère volontaire ou non. « En bref, l’ensemble des conduites peut désormais être interrogé sans qu’on ait à se référer, pour les pathologiser, à une aliénation de la pensée » (p. 148).
September 12, 2024
2.5
...за инстинкта е естествено да бъде анормален.
Следователно, във всяко престъпление има противопоставяне на силите, бунт, въстание срещу суверена. И най-малкото престъпление съдържа фрагмент от цареубийството.
...своеволието на тиранина е пример за възможните престъпници или, в своята фундаментална нелегитимност, то е позволение за престъпление.
...лудият винаги е някой, който се смята за крал, тоест който иска да изтъкне своята власт срещу всяка установена власт и над всяка власт, независимо дали това е власт на институцията или власт на истината.
Някои сфери на мълчание, някои условия и предписания за мълчание винаги са били налагани в корелация с една или друга техника на задължително признание.
...за инстинкта е естествено да бъде анормален.
Следователно, във всяко престъпление има противопоставяне на силите, бунт, въстание срещу суверена. И най-малкото престъпление съдържа фрагмент от цареубийството.
...своеволието на тиранина е пример за възможните престъпници или, в своята фундаментална нелегитимност, то е позволение за престъпление.
...лудият винаги е някой, който се смята за крал, тоест който иска да изтъкне своята власт срещу всяка установена власт и над всяка власт, независимо дали това е власт на институцията или власт на истината.
Някои сфери на мълчание, някои условия и предписания за мълчание винаги са били налагани в корелация с една или друга техника на задължително признание.
May 4, 2020
Един действителен поглед над “чудовищните корени” на различието, присъстващо в обществото. На моменти лекциите ми се сториха с хаотичен характер, защото мисълта на Фуко тече прекалено бързо. Но имайки предвид, че това са записани и в последствие съвсем леко редактирани речи, а не някаква тясно систематизирана книга, няма от какво да се оплача. Много добър принос за цялата картина тип “критика на историческия разум”.
September 23, 2024
No tenes que ser experto en sociología o conocedor del pensamiento de Foucault para meterte de lleno en este libro.
Lectura amena y super enriquecedora. Aprendí un montón y agradezco haberme tomado mi tiempo para disfrutar cada página.
Una joya, increible descubrir a mis 28 años que soy foucaultiana ✨️
Lectura amena y super enriquecedora. Aprendí un montón y agradezco haberme tomado mi tiempo para disfrutar cada página.
Una joya, increible descubrir a mis 28 años que soy foucaultiana ✨️
May 23, 2019
This is that edgy Foucault where it feels like he's going to war with the systems of control - history of sexuality part 1 era. The examples and images are dark and terrifying. The subject material is monster, incorrigible and onanist.
April 14, 2020
Foucault at his finest.
April 16, 2021
Descrizione di un sistema di potere. Ogni rapporto sociale è un rapporto di potere.
October 19, 2021
A must. Foucault dissects the building of the monster and for this we shall follow him considering the dynamics of power of Christianity, the state and the family.
February 24, 2022
Tratamiento del cuerpo monstruoso como aquel que irrumpe y desordena, que animaliza y rompe las leyes de la naturaleza y juridicas. Interesa pensarlo con el cuerpo grotesco planteado por Bajtin.
January 18, 2023
Interesting take on monsters. Similar to other monster theory I have read, but Foucault doesn’t typically make the list of monster theorists.
May 14, 2023
i’m so (ab)normal about this
January 31, 2025
un viaje insepradisimo que te deja ciero sabor amargo en la boca
December 9, 2025
Penso sia geniale come autore, mi sarebbe piaciuto essere presente alle sue lezioni
December 19, 2025
One of the best books I have ever read.
June 10, 2009
Reading Foucault is a nice break from reading a lot of the other structuralists (I'm thinking of Lacan in particular) if for no other reason than that Foucault is less a philosopher than a historian (these mid- to later- works at least). There is a lot to deal with in this book. The scope is huge which is typical for Foucault, but I think perhaps even for Foucault, too wide-ranging. There are a lot of threads left dangling and by the end of the book, one has a sense that one has gleaned the mind of Foucault, but only gleaned. That might be because there are a few different books in here including, primarily Discipline and Punish but also the History of Sexuality Vol. 1 and, to some extent, the Birth of the Clinic. Thus, Abnormal might be a great book for those unfamiliar with Foucault, so as just to get an idea of what he is on about.
What he is on about in this book is, to simplify, mechanisms of psychiatric power vis a vis the criminal justice system, specifically the slow creep from the "confessional to the couch" (from confessing to a priest to confessing to a psychiatrist) and the discourses of power that each have in Western society.
From the book:
"From the sixteenth century on, the fundamental change in the confession of the sin of lust is that the relational aspect of sexuality is no longer the important, primary, and fundamental element of penitential confession. It is no longer the relational aspect that is now at the very heart of questioning concerning the Sixth Commandment, but the movements, senses, pleasures, thoughts, and desires of the penitent's body itself, whose intensity and nature is experienced by the penitent himself. The old examination was essentially an inventory of permitted and forbidden relationships. The new examination is a meticulous passage through the body, a sort of anatomy of the pleasures of the flesh (la volupte). The body with its different sensations, and no longer, or much less, the laws of legitimate union, constitutes the organizing principle of the sins of lust. The body and its pleasures, rather than the required form for legitimate union become, as it were, the code of the carnal."
Broadly speaking, this is the trajectory that the book traces: Power (and if you've read Foucault before you know that he uses this word "power" in a very big and broad manner) and its increasing hold on our inner lives. (If you need a pedestrian, modern day example of this watch Oprah and note how many people are persuaded by one of her guest's views (via self-help book, of course) about how we should think, eat, etc. in essence live our lives. If that is not power then I do not know what is.).
This book is concerned, in a more narrow way, with psychiatry's active association with criminal justice and the history of its (psychiatry's) formation of theories of the abnormal, or what should be considered abnormal, i.e. degenerate. If you have some interest in this topic or interest in Foucault in general, this is a very good book.
What he is on about in this book is, to simplify, mechanisms of psychiatric power vis a vis the criminal justice system, specifically the slow creep from the "confessional to the couch" (from confessing to a priest to confessing to a psychiatrist) and the discourses of power that each have in Western society.
From the book:
"From the sixteenth century on, the fundamental change in the confession of the sin of lust is that the relational aspect of sexuality is no longer the important, primary, and fundamental element of penitential confession. It is no longer the relational aspect that is now at the very heart of questioning concerning the Sixth Commandment, but the movements, senses, pleasures, thoughts, and desires of the penitent's body itself, whose intensity and nature is experienced by the penitent himself. The old examination was essentially an inventory of permitted and forbidden relationships. The new examination is a meticulous passage through the body, a sort of anatomy of the pleasures of the flesh (la volupte). The body with its different sensations, and no longer, or much less, the laws of legitimate union, constitutes the organizing principle of the sins of lust. The body and its pleasures, rather than the required form for legitimate union become, as it were, the code of the carnal."
Broadly speaking, this is the trajectory that the book traces: Power (and if you've read Foucault before you know that he uses this word "power" in a very big and broad manner) and its increasing hold on our inner lives. (If you need a pedestrian, modern day example of this watch Oprah and note how many people are persuaded by one of her guest's views (via self-help book, of course) about how we should think, eat, etc. in essence live our lives. If that is not power then I do not know what is.).
This book is concerned, in a more narrow way, with psychiatry's active association with criminal justice and the history of its (psychiatry's) formation of theories of the abnormal, or what should be considered abnormal, i.e. degenerate. If you have some interest in this topic or interest in Foucault in general, this is a very good book.
January 9, 2024
Pretty enjoyable, Abnormal might be more thorough in terms of methodology and treatment of source material than Foucault's books. The material is largely familiar, following ideas developed in Madness and Civilization, Discipline & Punish, History of Sexuality volume one. But the lecture format makes them more approachable. The messiness is also beneficial; Foucault fluctuates between narratives in an interesting way, corrects himself, admits to limited knowledge, talks about covering three archetypical personas but never develops one at all. There's much on the figures of the monster and masturbators, but nothing on the unruly child who nonetheless intersects the theses a bit.
The usual issues with Foucault are present (huge abstractions drawn from a few case studies, abstract totalities like "power" and "psychiatry" neatly filling in all gaps) but not more so than his written works. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised and have an interest in reading the other lectures. I would still recommend starting with his books but this was great further reading.
The usual issues with Foucault are present (huge abstractions drawn from a few case studies, abstract totalities like "power" and "psychiatry" neatly filling in all gaps) but not more so than his written works. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised and have an interest in reading the other lectures. I would still recommend starting with his books but this was great further reading.
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