The History of Sexuality: 4: Confessions of the Flesh

(Hardback)

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The final, previously unpublished volume of one of the twentieth century's seminal works Foucault's History of Sexuality changed the way we think about power, selfhood and sexuality. In this fourth and final volume, he turns his attention to early Christianity, exploring how ancient ideas of pleasure were modified into the Christian notion of the 'flesh' - a transformation that would define the Western experience of sexuality. Essentially completed at Foucault's death, the manuscript of this volume was locked away in a Paris bank vault for nearly thirty years. Now for the first time, the work is available to English-language readers as the author originally conceived it.

Reviews

The most innovative and influential French thinker of the contemporary era -- Sudhir Hazareesingh * Guardian *
Nearly 35 years after his death, Foucault remains a vital reference point, and his History of Sexuality remains required reading ... The appearance of the fourth volume is itself the most significant event in the world of Foucault scholarship in 20 years ... Essential * Los Angeles Review of Books *

Author Bio

Michel Foucault (Author) Michel Foucalt (1926-1984) was one of the leading intellectuals of the twentieth century and the most prominent thinker in postwar France. Foucault's work influenced disciplines as diverse as history, sociology, philosophy, sociology and literary criticism. Robert Hurley (Translator) Robert Hurley is a leading French translator, specializing in the work of French philosophers and critical theorists. His English translations of Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Georges Bataille are considered definitive.