Abstract

This paper reflects on the relation between discourse, knowledge and institutions, in the context of the teachings of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. The question about discourse leads Foucault to inquire about the relation between knowledge and power. The imbrication of knowledge and power that his analysis uncovers sets in motion a powerful and multiple production technology that extends with positive effects to all society and institutions. An example of this is the institution of school and in its particular rediscovery of disciplines. We briefly review the writings of humanists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as examples of the positive effects of the idea of educating men and women in intellectual tasks through the study of school disciplines, indispensable to achieve critical thought, the core of the positive and productive effect of school learning.