MONSTROSITY ACCORDING TO G. CANGUILHEM AND M. FOUCAULT. AN APPROXIMATION TO THE BIOPOLITICAL MONSTER

This article explores the notion of monster in Canguilhem's and Foucault's investigations. Canguilhem focuses on teratology studies, where monstrosity is a complex anomaly, and observes that anomaly is identified with abnormality. On the other hand, Foucault conceives monstrosity as a juridical concept (juridical-biological and juridical-moral). According to him the monster is a predecessor of the abnormal. Despite Foucault points out that the monster's frame of reference is the law, we argue that the monster must be considered in relation to the norm. The monster is a biopolitical concept.