Presents a collection of essays which explains a reflection on the author's project to anthropologize the West. This book attempts to exoticize the Western constitution of reality, emphasizes those domains taken as universal, and shows how their claims to truth are linked to particular social practices, hence becoming effective social forces.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsCh. 1Science as a Practice: Ethos, Logos, Pathos3Ch. 2Representations Are Social Facts: Modernity and Post-Modernity in Anthropology28Ch. 3On the Archaeology of Late Modernity59Ch. 4Georges Canguilhem: A Vital Rationalist80Ch. 5Artificiality and Enlightenment: From Sociobiology to Biosociality91Ch. 6Galton's Regret: Of Types and Individuals112Ch. 7Severing the Ties: Fragmentation and Dignity in Late Modernity129Ch. 8Steps toward a Third Culture153Ch. 9American Moderns: On Sciences and Scientists162Index189

"Essays on the Anthropology of Reason will provide an important sense of the solidity of research in the new and exciting terrains that anthropology has entered. In so doing, it will remove discussion of such new work from the 'celebrity/fashion circuit' of recent trends in cultural studies. Paul Rabinow's collection both illuminates and extends a major research career that has never waned in the power of its intellect, curiosity, and depth of achievement."—George E. Marcus, Rice University

"Paul Rabinow's Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco has been seen as the precursor of the wave of reflexive anthropological texts that have played a central role in recent developments of the discipline. Essays on the Anthropology of Reason could have a similar effect, one that could contribute to a movement away from an excessive preoccupation with textual reflexivity. What one finds in this volume is a sustained reflection on what it means to do fieldwork today in or on (post)modern societies. There is no doubt in my mind that it will generate a healthy debate not only within anthropology but in other fields as well."—Alberto Cambrosio, McGill University

"Paul Rabinow's voice is unique. These essays explore a wide range of topics—the historical grounding of popular conceptions of the integrity of the body, the cultural logic of biological determinism and eugenics, and the applicability of Foucault's notion of biopower—with masterful command of the literature, a nuanced ear for the subtleties of cultural interpretation, and a theoretical acuity that is often thrilling."—Emily Martin, Princeton University

Essays on the Anthropology of Reason will provide an important sense of the solidity of research in the new and exciting terrains that anthropology has entered. In so doing, it will remove discussion of such new work from the 'celebrity/fashion circuit' of recent trends in cultural studies. Paul Rabinow's collection both illuminates and extends a major research career that has never waned in the power of its intellect, curiosity, and depth of achievement. -- George E. Marcus, Rice University Paul Rabinow's Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco has been seen as the precursor of the wave of reflexive anthropological texts that have played a central role in recent developments of the discipline. Essays on the Anthropology of Reason could have a similar effect, one that could contribute to a movement away from an excessive preoccupation with textual reflexivity. What one finds in this volume is a sustained reflection on what it means to do fieldwork today in or on (post)modern societies. There is no doubt in my mind that it will generate a healthy debate not only within anthropology but in other fields as well. -- Alberto Cambrosio, McGill University Paul Rabinow's voice is unique. These essays explore a wide range of topics--the historical grounding of popular conceptions of the integrity of the body, the cultural logic of biological determinism and eugenics, and the applicability of Foucault's notion of biopower--with masterful command of the literature, a nuanced ear for the subtleties of cultural interpretation, and a theoretical acuity that is often thrilling. -- Emily Martin, Princeton University