Foucault rejects critiques that denounce reason’s oppression as equally oppressive

Evidence

Now the critique* of knowledge I would propose does not in fact consist in denouncing what is continually-I was going to say monotonously-oppressive under reason, for after all, believe me, insanity (deraison) is just as· oppressive. Nor would this political critique of knowledge consist in flushing out the presumption of power in every truth affirmed, for again, believe me, there is just as much abuse of power in the lie or error. The critique I propose consists in determining under what conditions and with what effects a veridiction is exercised, that is to say, once again, a type of formulation falling under particular rules of verification and falsification. — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics, 337

Categorization

• XREF: Directly challenges the Frankfurt School critique of instrumental reason — a key contrast for the reader’s genealogy project.