who spent his career forensically criticizing the power

畢生致力於批判

of the modern bourgeois capitalist state including its

中產階級的資本主義系統，包含

police, law courts, prisons, doctors and psychiatrists.

其制度中的警察、法庭、監獄體系及醫師和精神學家

his goal was to work at nothing less

他的目標在於辯證

than how power worked and then to change it in the direction

權力如何運作及將其運作方向導向

a marxist anarchist utopia. Though he spent most of his life and libraries in

馬克思無政府烏托邦。儘管他大部分的人生及藏書都花在

seminar rooms

研討室裡

he was a committedly revolutionary figure. He met with enormous popularity

卻也是一位對革新不遺餘力的代表性人物。他在巴黎知識份子圈裡

in elite Parisien intellectual circles. Jean Paul Sartre admire him deeply,

極受歡迎。沙特更是十分景仰他

and he still maintains a wide following among young people studying at university

在許多世界知名大學的年輕學子間

in a prosperous corners of the world. His background

傅柯亦擁有眾多追隨者

which he was extremely reluctant ever to talk about and trying to prevent

儘管他並不願多提及他的家庭背景，並不計代價地

journalists from investigating at all costs

試著阻止媒體挖掘

was very privileged. Both his parents inordinately rich

他其實來自十分上層的家庭。雙親都非常富有

coming from a long line of successful surgeons in Poitier in west central France.

來自法國中西部 Poitier 城的醫生世家

His father, Dr. Paul Foucault, came to represent

他的父親 Dr. Paul Foucault 醫生代表了

all that Michel would hate about bourgeois France.

所有傅柯痛恨的法國中產階級特色

Michel had a standard upper class education.

傅柯早期接受典型上層階級教育

He went to a lead Jasuit institutions. He was an altar boy

他就讀於有名的耶穌會學校，曾是祭台助手

and his parents hoped he would become a doctor. But Michelle wasn't quite like other boys

而他的父母則希望他未來能成為一名醫生。但傅柯不像其他普通男孩

he started self-harming and thinking constantly of suicide.

他開始自殘，並經常有自殺的想法

At University, he decorated his bedroom with images of torture by Goya

就讀大學時期，他以哥雅的各種描繪痛苦主題的圖畫裝飾房間

When he was 22, he tried to commit suicide and was forced by his father

在他二十二歲，他嘗試自殺，並且被父親

against his will

強行送往

to see France's most famous psychiatrist Jean Delay at the Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris.

巴黎的Sainte-Anne醫院，求治於法國最有名的精神科醫師Jean Delay

The doctor wisely diagnose that a lot of Michelle's the stress

醫師明智地診斷傅柯的壓力來自於

came from having to keep his homosexuality and in particular

他需要在批判的社會中，將他的同性戀傾向及

his interest in extreme sado masochism away from censorious society.

性虐的特殊愛好藏起

Gradually, Foucault entered the underground gay scene in France

漸漸地，傅柯進入法國地下同性戀圈子

fell in love with a drug dealer and then took up a transvestite

愛上一名毒販，接著染上變裝的癖好

For long periods in his twenties he went to live abroad in Sweden, Poland and Germany,

在他大部分二十幾歲的時光，他住在瑞典、波蘭和德國這些

where he felt his sexuality would be less constrained.

他覺得不那麼壓抑他的性向的地方

All the while Foucault was progressing up French academic ladder. The seismic event to his intellectual life

同時，傅柯在法國學術圈裏漸漸上爬。影響他學術生涯最深的其中一件事

came in the summer of 1953 when Foucault was 27

在 1953 年夏天，傅柯 27 歲時來臨

and on holiday with the lover in Italy. There he came across Nietzsche' s book

彼時他正和愛人在義大利渡假。他拜讀了尼采的

"Untimely Meditations" which contains an essay called

《不合時宜的沉思》，其中有一篇

"On the Uses and Abuses of History for Life."

＜歷史對於生活的利與弊＞

In the essay Nietzsche argued that academics have poisoned our sense of how history

文中，尼采提出，學者毒害了人們

should be read and talked.

閱讀及討論歷史的方式

They made it seem as if one should read history in some sort of a disinterested way

好像只能以某種客觀冷靜的方式解讀歷史

in order to learn how it all was in the past.

來得知過去發生甚麼事情

But nietzsche rejected this with

但尼采

sarcastic fury

尖刻憤怒地拒絕這樣的方式

There was no point learning about the past for its own sake.

純為歷史而學歷史是沒有意義的

the only reason to read and study history is to dig out from the past

唯一閱讀及研究歷史的動機是藉由了解

ideas, concepts and examples which can help us to lead

過去的思想、概念、前車之鑑，幫助人們

a better life in our own times. This essay liberated Foucault intellectually

在自己的時代活得更好。這篇論文讓傅柯得到

as nothing had till then. Immediately he changed the direction of his work

前所未有的解放。他立刻改變他的研究方向

and decided to become a particular kind of philosophical historian

並決定成為哲學歷史學家

someone who could look back into the past to help to sort out the

了解歷史以解決當代的迫切問題。

urgent issues of his own time. Eight years later

八年之後

he was ready to publish what's recognized as his first masterpiece

他準備推出第一本被公認為大師之作的

Madness and Civilization

《瘋癲與文明》

The standard view is that we now treat people with mental illness in so much more humane way

一般認為，當代對待精神病患的方式好像已經比過去有人性許多

than we ever did in the past. After all, we put them in hospitals, give them drugs,

畢竟，病患能到醫院就醫、接受藥物治療

and get them looked after by people with PHD's

及專業醫師的照護

But this was exactly the attitude that Foucault wishing to demolish in Madness and Civilization.

但這剛好是傅柯在書中希望推翻的

In the book he argued that things way back in the Renaissance

在書中，他表示文藝復興時期

were actually far better for the mad than they subsequently became.

精神病患的待遇比之當代要好太多

In the Renaissance, the mad were felt to be different

在文藝興時期，精神病患被看做與眾不同

rather than crazy. They were thought to possess a kind of wisdom

而非瘋癲。人們認為他們擁有某種智慧

because they demonstrated the limits of reason.

因為他們展現了理智的極限

They were revered in many circles

他們在許多領域都被尊崇

and were allowed to wander freely.

並能夠隨心所欲地遊走各地

Then as Foucault's historical researches showed him,

接下來，傅柯的研究發現

in the mid 17th century, a new attitude was born that relentlessly medicalize and

17 世紀，人們對待精神病患的態度轉變，開始冷酷地視其為

institutionalized mentally ill people. No longer were them allowed to live alongside

需要醫治和就醫的一群人。他們不能再和所謂的普通人

the so-called sane.

一起生活

They were taken away from their families and locked up in asylums and seen as people

他們被迫與家人分離、被關進收容所

one should try to cure

被當作應該被治癒

rather than tolerate for just being different.

而非因獨特性而需要被包容的人

You can recognize a very similar, underlying philosophy

在他下一本巨作《臨床醫學的誕生》中

in Foucault' s next great book: The Birth of The Clinic.

可以看見相似的哲學

His target here was madicine more broadly.

他想要將醫學治療範圍擴大

He systematically attacked the view that medicine had become more humane with time.

他嚴謹地反駁「醫學與時俱進地更人性化」的說法

He conceded that of course we have better drugs and treatments now

他承認治療方式和用藥的確更進步了

but he believed that in the 18th century the professional doctor was born

但他認為專業醫師的概念於 18 世紀誕生

and that he was a sinister figure who would look at the patient always with

並且成為邪惡的表徵。他們以－－如傅柯所言－－

-what Foucault called- the medical gaze,

「醫學性凝視」 審視病患

denoting a dehumanizing attitude

以去除人性的態度

that looked the patient just as a set of organs, not a person.

將病患視作一組器官，而非一個人

One was under the medical gaze merely a malfunctioning

醫學凝視下的病患只是一個功能故障的

kidney or liver, not a person to be considered as a whole entity.

腎或肝，而非一個完整的人

Next in Foucault's oeuvre came: "Discipline and Punish"

下一本作品《規訓與懲罰》

here Foucault did his standard thing on state punishment.

傅柯著手討論國家懲處制度

Again, the normal view is that the prison and punishing systems of the modern world

同樣的，一般認為現代監獄和懲罰制度

are so much more humane than they were in the days when people just used to be

比過去直接在廣場把人吊死的方式

hung in public squares. Not so argued Foucault.

更有人性。但傅柯可不這麼認為

The problem, he said, is the power now looks kind

他說，關鍵在於，現代權力以良善的外衣作掩飾

but isn't; whereas in the past, it clearly wasn't kind

而在過去，它則是毫不掩飾的邪惡

and therefore could encourage open rebellion in protest.

因此過去更容易有反抗革命

Foucault noted that in the past an execution, a convict's body,

傅柯指出，在過去

could become the focus of sympathy and admiration. And the executioner,

罪犯是眾人同情甚至敬佩的目標。而行刑人

rather than the convict, could become the locus of shame.

比起罪犯，則是羞恥的代表

Also, public executions often led to riots in support of the prisoner.

此外，公眾行刑經常引起以支持受刑者為由的暴亂

But with the invention of the modern prison system everything happened in

但現代監獄的誕生

private behind locked gates.

將一切關在深鎖的大門後

One could no longer see and therefore resist state power.

人們再也無法看見，當然也無法反抗，這股國家權力

That's what made the modern system of punishment so barbaric

這就是為何在傅柯眼裡，現代懲處制度之所以

and properly primitive in Foucault's eyes.

如此野蠻而粗糙的原因

Foucault' s last work was the multi-volume,

傅柯最後一本作品分成數集

History of Sexuality.

《性史》

The maneuvers he performed in relation to sex

他處理性議題的策略

are again very familiar. Foucault rebelled against the view

再次地與前述作品相似。他推翻

that we're all now deeply libarated and at ease with sex.

宣稱「人們已經從性之中解放並能自在處理性議題」的觀點

He argued that since the 18th century we have relentlessly

他提出，自從 18 世紀，人們不懈地

medicalized sex, handing it over to professional sex researchers and scientists.

將性議題醫學化，交給專業的研究者和科學家

We live in an age what Foucault called "Scientia Sexualis,"

根據傅柯，我們生活在 "Scientia Sexualis"

Science of Sexuality. But Foucault looked back with considerable nostalgia

「科學化的性」的時代。但傅柯更加懷念

to the cultures of Rome, China and Japan,

過去的羅馬、中國和日本文化

where he detected the rule what he called an "Ars Erotica"

他在其中發現了所謂的 "Ars Erotica"

Erotic Art

情色藝術

with the whole focus was on how to increase the pleasure of sex

它注重如何增加性的樂趣

rather than merely understand and label it.

而非僅僅將其理解、貼上標籤

Once again, modernity was blamed for pretending the "in progress" when there was in fact

再一次地，他譴責「現代性」偽造的「進步」假象

just the loss of spontaneity and imagination.

實則卻是自發性和想像力的缺失

Foucault wrote the last volume of this work while dying of

傅柯在寫這本著作的最後一部時

AIDS that he had contracted in the San Francisco gay bar.

死於他在舊金山同性戀酒吧染上的愛滋

He died in 1984, age 58.

他於 1984 過世，享年 58

Foucault's lasting contributions is the

傅柯給予世人的貢獻在於

way we look at history.

如何看待歷史

There are lots of things in the modern world that we constantly being told

在現代，有很多美好的事物

are fantastic and were apparently very bad in the past. For example,

卻曾經不被認同。例如：

education, or the media, or our communication systems.

教育、傳媒、或通訊系統

Foucault encourages us to breakaway from optimistic smugness

傅柯鼓勵我們打破當下看似正向的表面

about now and to go back and see in history many ways of doing things

回溯過去的前車之鑑，汲取優點。

which would have superior. Foucault wasn't trying to get us to be

傅柯並非要人們變得守舊

nostalgic. He wanted us to pick up some lessons way back

他希望我們能夠吸取過去的經驗

in order to improve how we live now. Academic historians

以改善人們當代的生活。歷史學者們

have tended to hate Foucault's work.

通常不太喜歡傅柯的著作

They think it inaccurate and keep pointing out things

他們覺得這些作品太不精確，並且總是指出一些

they havn't quite understood in some document or other.

他們在某些文獻中總是無法明白的事

But Foucault didn't care for total historical accuracy.

但傅柯並不在乎歷史考證的精確度

History for him was just a storehouse of good ideas,

歷史之於他不過是一個儲存大量好點子的倉庫

and he wanted to raid it rather than keep it pristine and untouched.

他想大肆搜刮，而非保持它原封不動的樣子

We should use Foucault as an inspiration to look at the dominant ideas and

我們應該將傅柯視為質疑主流觀念和機構的

institutions of our times

啟發者

and to question them by looking at their histories and evolutions.

並且回顧他們的歷史及演進以繼續發現問題

Foucault did something remarkable. He made history life-enhancing

傅柯的貢獻卓越。他讓歷史和生活連結

and philosophically rich again. He can be an inspiring figure

並再度擁有哲學的豐富性。他在我們的生活經驗中

for our own projects.

可以成為十分具有啟發性的人物