Foucault

362696 — Paris France: Editions Gallimard for N.R.F. Softcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. Unusually scarce in the trade a full and complete set of the major work of intellectual history by a major influence in mid-late 20th-century social history the French social theorist Michel Foucault 1926-1984 Histoire De La Sexualite French language Edition published in Paris France for N.R.F. by Editions Gallimard. Trade paperback format some rubbing and wear to two volumes a couple of stickers and a bit of dog-earing some light bubbling of laminate covers at rear of one volume. From the library of the cultural anthropologist extraordinaire Francoise Dussart but not ex-library else bright and clean of interiors. The History of Sexuality set is comprised of: Volume 1. La Volonte De Savoir 1976 10 11-211 pp.; Volume 2. L'usage des plaisirs 1984 9 10-285 6 pp. including index and other publisher titles; Volume 3. Le souci de soi 1984 minor rubbing faint remains of pencil-markings 16 17-284 4 pp. including notes about other volumes; Volume 4. Les aveux de la chair 1984 448 pp. plus notes bibliography and index. Taken together they comprise a major contribution to several fields including social history sexology French culture and history psychology and others. Foucault mines "sexuality" as a discursive object as an emergent discrete facet of human psyches and bodies. He argues that our conceit that each and every person "has" a "sexuality" is only yet another recent development in the study of human subjectivity. The first volume is easily the most important in the study of sexuality and the most controversial. He criticizes the "repressive hypothesis" popularized by Sigmund Freud that broadly authorities in Western society doctors priests politicians etc. began to corral and suppress sexuality from the 1600s to today. He argues to the contrary that discourse on sexuality and associated narrative tropes expanded and consolidated because medica scientists and legal authorities encouraged or forced people to confess their sexual feelings and actions leading to the production of court cases memos memoirs letters scientific case studies and more. Along for the ride came "the sexuality of children" "insane" confessions notions of hereditary criminality and medical pathology.Member I.O.B.A. C.B.A. and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes and for sets. Editions Gallimard, for N.R.F paperback