Constructing Foucault's Ethics

Mark Olssen is Emeritus Professor of Political Theory and Higher Education Policy in the Department of Politics at the University of Surrey

• Introduction1 Foucault and normativity2 Life and error: Foucault, Canguilhem, Jacob3 Nietzsche’s life philosophy: naturalism, will to power, normativity4 Continuance ethics, objectivity, Kant5 Foucault, Hegel, Marx6 Hobbes, God, and modern social contract theory7 A politics of pluralism8 Democracy, education, global ethics9 Ethical comportmentIndex

'Fascinating... one of the best books on Foucault.'Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh, Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the Universities of Westminster and Hull and winner of the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Political Philosophy in 2002'Mark Olssen’s book is both sympathetic and adventurous. It remains true to Foucault’s attitude and style but also moves beyond him to think about and explore what a set of foucauldian normative concepts might look like and how they might be made use of. This is very much the direction Foucault might have moved if he had lived longer. The book is a major contribution to foucauldian scholarship.'Stephen J. Ball, Emeritus Professor of Sociology of Education, University College London'This is a truly impressive and timely book that takes Foucault’s work as a starting point to develop an ethics founded on a "continuance" of life. There are clear implications for our age, especially in understanding how we should think about climate change. The book emphasises that Foucault was not a relativist in any crude sense. It builds on Mark Olssen’s previous work to make an important contribution.'Hugh Lauder, Professor of Education and Political Economy, University of Bath