Although the name Michel Foucault has become indispensable in academic discourse in recent years, it is hard to deny that his discourse analysis is often used as a label for a variety of works that have little to do with Foucault's investigative methods. This is partly due to the frequent oversight that Foucault's discourse analysis was not developed in this way. The methodological complex within discourse analysis has its own history, which forms and must form the basis for discursive analytical thinking. To apply Foucault without delving into the deeper structure of his investigations means to grasp his lesson. This book outlines the genesis of his thought along the three major methodological stations - archaeology, genealogy, and critique.