I think most scholars and educators in the history of philosophy would put this in the top ten most important philosophical works of the latter half of the 20th Century, despite whether one largely agrees with Foucault's views or not.



This is because the work has had enormous influence not just in philosophy, but also in literary criticism, historiography, social psychology, theology, and a host of other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences.



What I think is interesting is that if you are either a friend or foe of deconstructionism, you will find plenty to appreciate in this book. In fact, even if you can't stand (or can't understand) what deconstruction is all about, you can safely give Foucault a try. Though very heavy reading, he is far more structured and organized in his argumentation than, say, Derrida.



If post-modern meta-theory (i.e. discussion of how we might take a step back and judge whether the very principles of how we form theories may be called into question) is of interest to you, in any field, then you probably will be glad for having read this book.



About this edition: It's a shame they did not keep the print of the painting, Las Meninas, on the cover -- as an older paperback version had borne. Foucault talks about this painting at length in the book, and there is no replacement for seeing it. A black-and-white print on the inside is not nearly as nice as the larger, color one that was on previous covers.

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