I have the pleasure to bring to your attention a new philosophy and political science book, Young Foucault: The Lille Manuscripts on Psychopathy, Phenomenology, and Anthropology, 1952-1955 by Elisabetta Basso.

In Young Foucault, Elisabetta Basso offers a groundbreaking and in-depth analysis of Foucault’s Lille manuscripts that sheds new light on the origins of his philosophical project. She considers the epistemological style and methodology of these writings as well as their philosophical context and the scholarly networks in which Foucault was active, foregrounding his relationship to existential psychiatry. Young Foucault blurs the boundaries between biography and theory, exploring the transformations—and, at times, contradictions—that characterize the intellectual trajectory of a philosopher who, as Foucault himself put it, “turned to psychology, and from psychology to history.” Retracing the first steps of the philosopher’s intellectual journey, Basso shows how Foucault’s early writings provide key insights into his archaeological work of the 1960s. 

Assembling a vast array of archival sources—including manuscripts, reading notes, notes for lectures and conferences, and correspondence—this book develops a new and deeper understanding of Foucault’s body of work.

“I am deeply grateful to the team working on the Foucault Fiches de Lecture / Foucault Reading Notes (FFL) project, whose input was crucial to this book.”, thanks Elisabetta Basso.