Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1998 01:56:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Matthew King <making-AT-yorku.ca>
Subject: Re: foucault by the numbers


On Thu, 3 Dec 1998, Phyllis L. Flott wrote:

> If anyone has any ideas about "intro to Foucault" type information, I'd
> greatly appreciate a citation or source.
> 
> I would like to present some of the key ideas of Foucault (probably with
> an emphasis on Dis. & Punish) to an undergraduate class.  My students
> have a minimal grasp of social theory so I'm looking for source like the
> "Marx for beginners" series.

I think there are at least two books called _Foucault for Beginners_
now.... C.G. Prado--who introduced me to Foucault when I was an undergrad,
and who I still think understands Foucault with almost incomparable
clarity--has written two introductory books on Foucault:  _Descartes and
Foucault:  A Contrastive Introduction to Philosophy_ and _Starting with
Foucault_.  Prado's orientation is more toward epistemology than social
theory--especially in the Descartes/Foucault book--so he may not be all
that useful for your purposes ... but I think he deserves a plug anyway.
:)

Matthew

 ---Matthew A. King---Department of Philosophy---York University, Toronto---
       "In the conviction that it is possible you may depart from life 
        at once, act and speak and think in every case accordingly."
 ----------------------------(Marcus Aurelius)------------------------------