The History of Sexuality

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Michel Foucault

Pantheon Books, New York, 2010, 1976–84, English; originally published in French

Nonfiction, General

ISBN: 9780394417752

A three-volume series written between 1976 and 1984. Foucault begins his series (vol. 1, An Introduction) by recounting how sexuality has been repressed societies throughout history. He explains that the suppression of sexuality results in the suppression of individuality, and how society benefits from that suppression. In volume 2 (The Use of Pleasure), Foucault analyzes the origins of Western thought to determine how discussions about sex evolved from experience and physics to discussions about ethics. Volume 3 (The Care of the Self), again, analyzes the origins of Western thought, this time looking at the development of sexual pleasure. Foucault finds that later thinkers began to focus more on the consequences than the pleasures of sex.

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