PHILOSOPHER

Michel Foucault

1926 - 1984

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Paul-Michel Foucault (UK: FOO-koh, US: foo-KOH; French: [pɔl miʃɛl fuko]; 15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984) was a French historian of ideas and philosopher, who was also an author, literary critic, political activist, and teacher. Foucault's theories primarily addressed the relationships between power versus knowledge and liberty, and he analyzed how they are used as a form of social control through multiple institutions. Though often cited as a structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels and sought to critique authority without limits on himself. His thought has influenced academics within a large number of contrasting areas of study, with this especially including those working in anthropology, communication studies, criminology, cultural studies, feminism, literary theory, psychology, and sociology. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Michel Foucault is the 53rd most popular philosopher, the 76th most popular biography from France (down from 66th in 2019) and the 5th most popular French Philosopher. Learn more about Michel Foucault's academic impact at Rankless.

Michel Foucault is most famous for his work on the history of society and the human sciences.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Michel Foucault ranks 53 out of 1,267. Before him are Protagoras, David Hume, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Anaxagoras, John Amos Comenius, and Swami Vivekananda. After him are Hannah Arendt, Mikhail Bakunin, Henri Bergson, Plotinus, Karl Popper, and Ramakrishna.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1926, Michel Foucault ranks 4. Before him are Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, and Fidel Castro. After him are Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ingvar Kamprad, Jiang Zemin, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Leslie Nielsen, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Dario Fo, and Ben Roy Mottelson. Among people deceased in 1984, Michel Foucault ranks 2. Before him is Indira Gandhi. After him are Yuri Andropov, Richard Burton, Marvin Gaye, Paul Dirac, François Truffaut, Truman Capote, James Mason, Alfred Kastler, Tigran Petrosian, and Mohamed Naguib.

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In France

Among people born in France, Michel Foucault ranks 76 out of 6,770. Before him are Georges Bizet (1838), Claude Debussy (1862), Charles XIV John of Sweden (1763), Francis I of France (1494), Pierre de Coubertin (1863), and Charles X of France (1757). After him are Jacques Chirac (1932), Pope Urban II (1042), Edgar Degas (1834), Henry III of France (1551), Louis IX of France (1214), and Henri Bergson (1859).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In France

Among philosophers born in France, Michel Foucault ranks 5. Before him are René Descartes (1596), Montesquieu (1689), Auguste Comte (1798), and Michel de Montaigne (1533). After him are Henri Bergson (1859), Peter Abelard (1079), Roland Barthes (1915), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809), Jean Bodin (1530), Gilles Deleuze (1925), and Henri de Saint-Simon (1760).

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