Martin Heidegger (1889–1976)

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This entry explains the relation between Foucault and Heidegger in terms of their respective readings of Kant, with particular reference to the subject, and time. Heidegger criticises what he perceives as Kant's failure to provide an adequate ontology of the subject, and by implication a thoroughgoing ontology at all. His approach therefore leads him to develop a fundamental ontology, articulated as temporal. We know that Foucault read Heidegger seriously, and yet references to Heidegger in his work are rare, and often critical. One positive reference comes in his early Introduction to Ludwig Binswanger's Dream and Existence, where he acknowledges the importance of an ontology of the subject. Yet he presents this as having an ambiguous relation to anthropology - something which Heidegger explicitly rejects. This entry examines how Foucault develops this position contra Heidegger via interpretations of Kant's Anthropology, and an account of time as dispersal.

The Cambridge Foucault Lexicon is a reference tool that provides clear and incisive definitions and descriptions of all of Foucault's major terms and influences, including history, knowledge, language, philosophy and power. It also includes entries on philosophers about whom Foucault wrote and who influenced Foucault's thinking, such as Deleuze, Heidegger, Nietzsche and Canguilhem. The entries are written by scholars of Foucault from a variety of disciplines such as philosophy, gender studies, political science and history. Together, they shed light on concepts key to Foucault and to ongoing discussions of his work today.