Precis: Foucault

Foucault's focus in the introduction of his The Archaeology of Knowledge and The Discourse on Language is on history, and how we, as a society view it and understand it. History used to be about making connections, but now we look to isolate and transform it. Foucault tells us that history is "no longer one of the lasting foundations, but one of transformations that serve as new foundations, the rebuilding of foundations" (5). The issue that arises when this method of historical analysis is used is our inability to create standards and a concrete understanding of how far to take this. "What is a theory? What is a concept;" these are only the beginnings of the questions that will emerge from the breakdown of our foundations (5).