The Order of Things. An Archaeology of the Human Sciences
New York: Pantheon/Random House, 1970. 1st US Edition. Octavo, publisher’s blue cloth, spine stamped in blue, spine and upper board gilt, original illustrated dust jacket.
"It is no longer possible to think in our day other than in the void left by man's disappearance." First US edition of the emblematic figure of French postmodernism’s landmark study of the historical structures that govern knowledge. One of the defining texts of Foucault’s archaeological period, The Order of Things moves from the 17th to 19th centuries, tracing transformations in the organization of language, natural history, economics, and the human sciences, arguing that ostensibly secure categories of knowledge are historically contingent rather than universal. The work is noted for introducing the Foucauldian concept of the episteme, the unconscious thought systems that determine what constitutes knowledge within a given historical period. Translated from the original French by Alan Sheridan Smith. Originally published in France in 1966 as Les Mots et les choses, and published here as part of the publisher's World of Man series edited by R.D. Laing. Unclipped dust jacket with some edgewear. Very good. Item #13418
$150.00