THE USE OF PLEASURE V2

From Library Journal Shortly before his sudden death in 1984, Foucault completed the ambitious four-volume study which traces the genesis of the modern ``desiring subject.'' Its second volume focuses on the ``experience of sexuality'' found in the writings of Greek philosophers and physicians of the fourth century B.C. Foucault argues that this experience differs radically from ours: the classical concern with sexuality must be understood as a particular instance of a more general concern with attaining that self-mastery which was the mark of the free man and the central concern of Greek ethics. As in his earlier writings, Foucault challenges conventional assumptions and forces us to think about fundamental questions in new ways. An important and surprisingly readable work by a major contemporary thinker, this deserves a wide audience. James Schmidt, University Professors Program, Boston Univ.Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.