Georges Canguilhem and the Problem of Error

Examining Georges Canguilhemâ#x80;#x99;s enduring attention to the problem of error, from his early writings to Michel Foucaultâ#x80;#x99;s first major responses to his work, this pathbreaking book shows that the historian of science was also a centrally important philosopher in postwar France. Samuel Talcott elucidates Canguilhemâ#x80;#x99;s contributions by drawing on previously neglected publications and archival sources to trace the continuity of commitment that led him to alter his early anti-vitalist, pacifist positions in the face of political catastrophe and concrete human problems. Talcott shows how Canguilhem critically appropriated the philosophical work of Alain, Bergson, Bachelard, and many others while developing his own distinct writings on medicine, experimentation, and scientific concepts in an ethical and political endeavor to resist alienation and injustice. And, while suggesting Canguilhemâ#x80;#x99;s sometimes surprising philosophical importance for a range of younger thinkers, the book demonstrates Foucaultâ#x80;#x99;s own critical allegiance to Canguilhemâ#x80;#x99;s spirit, techniques, and investigations.

Introduction -- 1. Canguilhemâ#x80;#x99;s Early Years: The Birth of Concrete, Political Problematization out of the Spirit of Resistant Philosophy Chapter -- 2. Canguilhem and the Philosophical Problem of Error Chapter -- 3. From Error in Biology to Psychological Illusion: Canguilhemâ#x80;#x99;s Epistemological History and the Early Foucault Chapter -- 4. Medicine and Experimentation in Canguilhem and Foucault: The Place of Disease in Modern Life Chapter -- 5. Intersections of the Concept and Literature in The Order of Things: Foucault and Canguilhem -- 6. The Education of Philosophy: From Canguilhem and The Teaching of Philosophy to Foucaultâ#x80;#x99;s Discipline and Punish Chapter -- 7. Errant life, molecular biology, and biopower: Canguilhem, Jacob, and Foucault Chapter -- 8. Critical Resistances, Health and Truth in the Later Writings of Canguilhem and Foucault Ending Remarks.