- Title: The Order of Things
- Author: Michel Foucault
- Published: 1966
- Publisher: Routledge (1989)
- ISBN-13: 978-0-415-26737-3
The book “The Order of Things” compares the episteme – justified or systematic knowledge, as opposed to mere opinion – of the classical era (17th and 18th centuries) with that of the 16th century. In the 16th century, similitudes (resemblances) were the key to the knowledge.
Foucault wanted to show how differences and identities became more important in the classical period. Specific methods were required to determine differences and establish identities; namely measurement and order.
(1) Four Similitudes
- Convenientia: convene, group, proximity
- Aemulatio: emulation, imitation, rival
- Analogy: structural likeness
- Sympathy and Antipathy: attraction, repulsion
The aforementioned four similitudes tell us how the world must fold in upon itself, duplicate itself, reflect itself, or form a chain with itself so that things can resemble one another. They tell us what the paths of similitude are and the directions they take.
(2) Representation and Sign
The classical sign is a binary unity: a signifier and a signified… The relation that links them does not consist in a signature or a similitude, but in an altogether different connection: that of representation.
from the book
The sign or symbol of the 16th century stood in its own. It is more than a simple representation of something else; it has hidden marks to be discovered.
In the classical era, signs DO represent. But the meaning of representation differs from what we think of now. Signs represent within themselves. It is a double representation. The sign is a signifier to its signified, while simultaneously representing the act of representation itself..
(3) General Grammar
General grammar is the study of verbal order in its relation to the simultaneous order of thought. It is the science of what makes language possible as a representation of thought.
from the book
“General Grammar” deals with the order of linguistic signs to show how language represents thoughts. Thought represents itself, and that is language. The power of representation lies within order. General grammar seeks a universal language that represents all thoughts.
Universal languages differ:
- In the 16th century: the primitive language before Babel. It has markers to all objects in the world.
- In the classical era: a language capable of representing all possible thoughts
- In the contemporary era: a language that all people can communicate without translation
(4) Natural History
Natural history is not the-study-of-nature-in-itself; it is the study of beings as they can be ordered within a system of identities and differences. It is the constitution of a pure table of characters.
from the book
In the classical period, plants and animals are differentiated and grouped according to order. The main criteria were the representation rather than the function. Once ordered, plants and animals were classified and named using common nouns.
(5) Study of Wealth
Wealth is not an absolute quantity of goods, nor is it merely human labor; it is a system of signs. Money is a currency because it is a sign—it represents value just as words represent thoughts or characters represent natural species.
from the book
The classical era was the period of mercantilism. Previously money (gold) had to be as precious as goods to be used as an exchange medium. In the representation era, money (gold) became a symbol, and it represented wealth. Exchanges were encouraged, and by doing so, wealth could be increased.
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