CRAZY: The shocking and disturbing life of postmodern icon Michel Foucault

French philosopher, historian, and social activist Michel Foucault has long been celebrated in academic circles as one of the leading intellectual minds behind postmodern theory and an inspiration for many social activists to this day. But a closer look into the life of this ideological icon reveals an alarmingly disturbed and dangerous man.

On Thursday’s episode of the “Glenn” show, Glenn Beck uncovered the shocking truth about Michel Foucault.

"His ideas were contrarian to his extremely privileged upbringing," Glenn said. "He was a rich kid, and he felt guilty about it."

Glenn explained that Foucault spent his life hating his own privilege. He was a troubled youth who, in 1948, took a razor blade and slashed open his own chest. On another occasion, he chased a fellow student with a dagger. Shortly thereafter, he attempted to commit suicide by overdosing.

In college, he kept violent paintings by Francisco Goya depicting torture and murder hanging in his dorm room. His parents sent him to the best psychiatrists in France, who determined that his violent and suicidal behavior was rooted in his self-denied homosexuality. But Foucault blamed his wealthy parents and his doctors for his unhappiness.

"Michel Foucault and his postmodern cohorts could not ... claim 'have-not' status because they had been born into wealth and privilege. They were the bourgeois, who they were supposed to hate profoundly," Glenn explained. "They devoted themselves to finding a way around this: 'How can I be rich and oppressed? How can I be a victim?'"

Foucault's solution was to focus on the balance of power. He argued that those individuals or entities in society who have power — whether based on class, race, gender, or status — subjugated their underlings to domination and oppression.

He wrote in his book "Discipline and Punish": "Where there is power, there is resistance, and yet, or rather consequently, this resistance is never in a position of exteriority in relation to power."

Disturbingly, Foucault used his philosophy to justify pedophilia. He argued that Western thought had corrupted the perception of childhood, claiming that children are both sexually aware and cognitively able to grant consent to an adult, Glenn explained.

"It's unclear whether or not he believed it was OK for adults to act on sexual relationships with children," Glenn added. "Foucault never fully defined the idea, although based on his actions he certainly believed that teenagers were ready for sex."

Foucault died of AIDS in 1984 at the age of 57. On his death bed, he famously said, "To die for the love of boys, what could be more beautiful."

"When language is simultaneously meaningless and infinitely interpretable, there is no point to attaching any meaning — unless it favors the postmodern cause. Postmodernism allows for this by renouncing truth statements. In other words, it assumes there are no objective truths," Glenn said.

Watch the video clip above to learn more.

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