Foucault's Heidegger: Philosophy and Transformative Experience

by Timothy Rayner

Foucault's philosophical relationship to Heidegger is the subject of continuing academic debate. To date, no comprehensive interpretation of this relationship has emerged. This book provides a groundbreaking new approach to Foucault and Heidegger's relationship, based in an original approach to the problem itself. Rather than explore points of similarity between these thinkers, the book identifies a Heideggerian style, or practice, of thinking in Foucault's work, which first emerges in his early studies of madness and literature. Through a series of penetrating studies, Foucault's Heidegger shows how this philosophical practice informs the content and objectives of Foucault's critical writings to the end of his career. This argument clarifies the central role of transformative experience in Foucault's work. In addition to establishing the nature of Foucault's engagement with Heidegger, it provides a new perspective on the role of 'fiction' in Foucault's critique, and revitalizes our conception of Foucault's status as a philosopher.






Foucault's Heidegger will be a landmark in Foucault studies, the first comprehensive account of Foucault's relationship to Heidegger in print. As such, it will be a key reference for future debates on this matter and discussions of Foucault's work generally.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2007