PHENOMENOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY IN FOUCAULT'S “INTRODUCTION TO BINSWANGER'S DREAM AND EXISTENCE“: A MIRROR IMAGE OF THE ORDER OF THINGS?
History and Theory December 1, 2016 Béatrice Han‐pile
The article argues that Michel Foucault's early work, 'Introduction to Binswanger's Dream and Existence,' offers a productive middle ground between transcendental philosophy and empirical science by focusing on 'Menschsein' (the being of man), which is neither a transcendental subject nor a mere empirical human. This existential anthropology, unlike the later critique in 'The Order of Things,' allows transcendental forms to be instantiated in concrete cases, such as dreams, providing clearer access to fundamental existential structures than everyday waking experience. The author defends this reading while noting its limits and how it informs Foucault's later rejection of anthropological approaches.