Editing Sociology of knowledge (section)

===Michel Foucault===
{{main|Michel Foucault}}
The work of Michel Foucault made a particularly important contemporary contribution to the sociology of knowledge. ''[[Madness and Civilization]]'' (1961) postulated that conceptions of madness and what was considered "reason" or "knowledge" were themselves subject to major [[culture bias]], in this respect mirroring similar criticisms by [[Thomas Szasz]] (1920-2012), at the time the foremost critic of [[psychiatry]] and subsequently an eminent psychiatrist. Foucault and Szasz agreed that sociological processes played a major role in defining "madness" as an "illness" and in prescribing "cures". In ''[[The Birth of the Clinic]]: An Archeology of Medical Perception'' (1963), Foucault extended his critique to institutional clinical medicine, arguing for the central [[conceptual metaphor]] of [[Medical gaze|"The Gaze"]], which had implications for [[medical education]], [[Prison#Design|prison design]], and the [[carceral state]] as understood today. Concepts of [[criminal justice]] and its intersection with medicine were better developed in this work than in the contributions of Szasz and others, who confined their critique to current psychiatric practice. Foucault's ''[[The Order of Things]]'' (1966) and [[The Archaeology of Knowledge | ''The Archeology of Knowledge'']] (1969) introduced abstract notions of [[Mathesis (philosophy) | mathesis]] and taxonomia to explain the subjective 'ordering' of the [[human sciences]]. These, he claimed, had transformed 17th and 18th-century studies of "general grammar" into modern "[[linguistics]]", "[[natural history]]" into modern "[[biology]]", and "[[analysis of wealth]]" into modern "[[economics]]"—though not, claimed Foucault, without loss of meaning. Foucault believed that the 19th century transformed what knowledge was.

Foucault stated that "Man did not exist" before the 18th century. Foucault regarded notions of humanity and of [[humanism]] as inventions of [[modernity]]. Accordingly, a [[cognitive bias]] had been introduced unwittingly into science, by over-trusting the individual doctor or scientist's ability to see and state things objectively. Foucault roots this argument in the rediscovery of Kant, though his thought is significantly influenced by [[Nietzsche]] – that philosopher declaring [[God is dead | the "death of God"]] in the 19th century, and the [[anti-humanism|anti-humanists]] proposing the "death of Man" in the 20th.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Gladden
 |first1               = Matthew E.
 |date                 = 14 March 2018
 |orig-date            = 2016
 |chapter              = A Typology of Posthumanism: A Framework for Differentiating Analytic, Synthetic, Theoretical, and Practical Posthumanisms
 |title                = Sapient Circuits and Digitalized Flesh: The Organization as Locus of Technological Posthumanization
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=jop_DwAAQBAJ
 |edition              = 2
 |publication-place    = Indianapolis, Indiana
 |publisher            = Defragmenter Media
 |page                 = 55
 |isbn                 = 9781944373221
 |access-date          = 24 July 2024
 |quote                = Antihumanism [...] claims that the binary of 'life versus death' is still meaningful – and that the human being, as such, is dead.
}} 
</ref>

In [[Discipline and Punish | ''Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison'']] (1975), Foucault concentrates on the correlation between [[knowledge]] and power. According to him, knowledge is a form of power and can conversely be used against individuals as a form of power.<ref>{{cite book|last =Foucault|first =Michel|title =Discipline and Punish|year =1975|publisher =New York: Random House|page =27}}</ref> As a result, knowledge is [[Social constructionism|socially constructed]].<ref>{{cite book|last =Foucault|first =Michel|title =Discipline and Punish|year =1975|publisher =New York: Random House|page =28}}</ref> He argues that knowledge forms discourses, which, in turn, form the dominant ideological ways of thinking that govern human lives.<ref name="foucault187">{{cite book |last=Foucault |first=Michel |title=Discipline and Punish |year=1975 |publisher=New York: Random House |page=187}}</ref> For him, social control is maintained in 'the disciplinary society' through codes of control over sexuality and the ideas/knowledge perpetuated through social institutions.<ref name="foucault138">{{cite book |last=Foucault |first=Michel |title=Discipline and Punish |year=1975 |publisher=New York: Random House |page=138}}</ref> In other words, discourses and [[ideologies]] subject us to authority and turn people into 'subjected beings', who are afraid of being punished if they sway from [[social norms]].<ref name="foucault138"/> Foucault believes that institutions overtly regulate and control our lives. Institutions such as schools reinforce the dominant ideological forms of thinking in the populace and force us into becoming obedient and docile beings.<ref name="foucault138"/> Hence, the [[dominant ideology]] that serves the interests of the ruling class, all the while appearing as 'neutral', needs to be questioned and must not go unchallenged.<ref name="foucault187"/>