Foucault and the function of the intelectual - A political jansenism

Abstract

This paper has the intention of explaining Foucault's point of view on the position that the intellectual thinker should have in society. Following the guidelines of the french author, the ideas of compromise of the intellectual thinker and of how all discourse is inscribed in a political exchange, are explained. The paper also explains how Foucault's thought, elaborated from his genealogical standpoint, rejects the unitary pretensions of some ways of knowledge because of their inhibitory and monopolizing effects of the "truth" that overturn violently on particularities. In this sense, the duty of the intellectual thinker should be to be able to find adequate ways to attack the systems of power.