Once again, not many reviewers seem to have any clue what Foucault is about, and instead dismiss him for various alleged associations ("father of postmodernism" my ass, let alone of political correctness ...) in order to demonstrate their ability to drop names. The one person here who has actually read him, thf1977, is absolutely correct that Foucault is mostly a sociological historian, known primarily for his rigorous methodology and not for any easy philosophical takeaways.

Perhaps not a great philosopher, but a very interesting sociologist. His analysis of power and surveillance is very interesting and useful, as is his discourse analysis which is a great help for people wanting to analyse and gain insight into the development of ideas. And to underspin83: Foucault was NOT the father of postmodernism. The term itself was coined by Jean-Francois Lyotard in 1979, and Foucault wasn't the first philosopher to express the ideas. If anything he was more of a structuralist. The idea of moral relativism was expressed much more clearly by Nietzsche in the last half of the 19th century, and so Foucault can't be the father of that one either.

Father of post-modernism, moral relativism and in a large sense, contemporary political correctness. In other words (IMO), outright intellectual poison. As a sociology major, I am forced to read his numerous absurd writings at school. Racial and feminist extremists within the university love this guy. If you must read his work, do so at your own risk!

a Homo, talks to much about sodomy.

Liberation theology - no thank you! The Pope (John Paul II) has tried hard to weed out such priests who have corupted his church with socialism, the new age, homosexuality, etc (all of which his Bible rejects). Foucault was originally a marxist who changed to 'Social-democrat', he died of AIDS.

His theories on power and discourse changed the way I view the world and society.