Wrong-­Doing, Truth-­Telling

MICHEL FOUCAULT
Wrong-­Doing,
Truth-­Telling
The Function of Avowal in Justice

Edited by Fabienne Brion and Bernard E. Harcourt

Translated by Stephen W. Sawyer

The University of
Chicago Press
Michel Foucault (1926–84) is one of the most significant social theorists of the
twentieth century, his influence extending across many areas of the humanities
and social sciences.

Fabienne Brion is professor in the School of Law at the Catholic University of

Louvain.

Bernard E. Harcourt is the Julius Kreeger Professor of Law at the University of

Chicago and directeur d’études at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales.

Stephen W. Sawyer is chair and associate professor of history at the American

University of Paris.

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637

The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2014 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2014.
Printed in the United States of America

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5

ISBN-­13: 978–0-­226–25770–9 (cloth)

ISBN-­13: 978–0-­226–92208–9 (e-­book)
ISBN-­10: 0–226–25770–3 (cloth)
ISBN-­10: 0–226–92208–1 (e-­book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226922089.001.0001

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Foucault, Michel, 1926–1984, author.
[Mal faire, dire vrai. English]
Wrong-doing, truth-telling : the function of avowal in justice / Michel Foucault ;
edited by Fabienne Brion and Bernard E. Harcourt ; translated by Stephen W.
Sawyer.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-226-25770-9 (cloth : alkaline paper) — ISBN 978-0-226-92208-9
(e-book) 1. Justice. 2. Truth. 3. Confession (Law). 4. Law—Philosophy. I. Brion,
Fabienne, editor. II. Harcourt, Bernard E., 1963– editor. III. Sawyer, Stephen W.,
1974– translator. IV. Title.
K241.F7F6813 2014
340′ .114—dc23 2013037748

♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992

(Permanence of Paper).
This work, co-­published by the Presses universitaires de Louvain and

the University of Chicago Press, is the result of a collaboration between

the School of Criminology of the Université catholique de Louvain

and the University of Chicago.