Why has there been such an explosion of discussion about sex in the west since the 17th century? Here, one of France's greatest intellectuals explores the evolving social, economic and political forces that have shaped our attitudes to sex. In a book that is at once controversial and seductive, Foucault describes how we are in the process of making a science of sex which is devoted to the analysis of desire rather than the increase of pleasure.

Table of Contents

Part 1 We "other victorians". Part 2 The repressive hypothesis: the incitement to discourse; the peverse implantation. Part Scientia sexualis. Part 4 The deployment of sexuality: objective; method; domain; periodization. Part 5 Right of death and power over life.

About the Author

One of the leading intellectuals of the twentieth century and the most prominent thinker in post-war France, Foucault's work influenced disciplines as diverse as history, sociology, philosophy, sociology and literary criticism.