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Contribution to Book
Genealogy
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Vol. 4 Genealogy to Iqbal, Muhammad (1998)
  • R. Kevin Hill, Portland State University
Abstract

'Genealogy' is an expression that has come into currency since the 1970s, a result of Michel Foucault's works Surveiller et punir (1975) (Discipline and Punish, 1977) and the History of Sexuality (1976, 1984a, 1984b). Foucault's use of the term continues Nietzsche's in his On the Genealogy of Morals ([1887] 1967). For both philosophers, genealogy is a form of historical critique, designed to overturn our norms by revealing their origins. Whereas Nietzsche's method relies on psychological explanations, and attacks modern conceptions of equality in favour of a perfectionist ethic, Foucault's relies on micro-sociological explanations, and attacks modern forms of domination in favour of radical politics.

Disciplines
Publication Date
1998
Editor
Edward Craig
Publisher
Routledge
ISBN
0415187095 9780415187091
Citation Information
R. Kevin Hill. "Genealogy" Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Vol. 4 Genealogy to Iqbal, Muhammad (1998)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rkevin_hill/5/