The Archaeology of the Discourse of Madness in Michel Foucault's Philosophy

Abstract

In History of Madness, Michel Foucault offers a profound philosophical critique of Western rationality, reframing the history of psychiatry not as a triumph of humanism, but as a tragic narrative of alienation. For Foucault, "madness" is not an objective biological reality, but an existential and social construct fashioned by the mechanisms of power to define the boundaries of human normalcy.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, madness was woven into the very fabric of human experience. Far from being a pathology, the "madman" was a tragic figure who walked among the sane, embodying an alternative, disruptive wisdom. In this era.

In The Modern Age: The Illusion of Liberation and Medical Subjugation

The birth of the modern asylum in the 19th century masked a deeper form of violence under the guise of philanthropy. While figures like Philippe Pinel ostensibly unshackled the mad.