The eye and ear

Michel Foucault and the «Confessions of the Flesh»

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2023.1.44632

Keywords:

Foucault, History of Sexuality, Knowledge- power-truth, Confessions of the Flesh

Abstract

This work intends to analyze the postmortem contentious publication of the book “Confessions of the Flesh”, specifically following the functionality regarding the insertion of the subject as the third component of Foucault’s archeological-genealogical triangle, insertion that imposes a significant rupture/twist/overturn in his work.  The alethurgical force of the subject brings a definitive “unsovereignization” of the power dispositif /device). On the one hand, if the modern form predicts the transference of a power from itself onto others, the archipelago of governing strategies , that  guides consciousness, doesn’t implicate the abandonment of  a targeted person’s freedom; on the other hand, a second process emerges from the specific distinction between the old/ancient model and the Christian model, in other words, if the old/ancient model functions with the objective of “authonomizing” the subject, the Christian’s  inquiry of consciousness establishes dependence as an axis and develops a pastoral rationality. In this way, Foucault arrives at an esthetics of existence that is an exercise of pure freedom and perfect attitude, that offers itself to others as proof of its own value. It is in those terms that the fourth volume of the History of sexuality is confronted.  What changes drastically in the Christian experience of the flesh is the relation of the subject with the Truth. The confession, more than atonement of sins, intervenes as proof and testimony of the subject itself. In conclusion, to Foucault, imbued by the imperfection that exhibits itself in his work, the Christian subject is linked to an endless direction of consciousness which, in its turn, can be seen as the price paid for the loss of an undefined identity. From this perspective the problem that is being faced can be put in terms of finding a way to substantiate the hermeneutics of the self, not in sacrifice, but in a “positive emergence”-in theory and in practice- of the self, exposing the transitional moment of “Confessions of the Flesh” as well as the reason why the publication is renounced by its author.

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Author Biographies

Sandro Chignola, Università Degli Studi di Padova, Itália.

Professor of Political Philosophy at the "Dipartimento di Filosofia, Sociologia, Pedagogia e Psicologia Applicata" at the Università Degli Studi di Padova/ITA. Member of the Board of Directors of the "International Doctorate School 'Europhilosophie'” (http://www.europhiloso-phie.eu/doctorat/). Among his recent publications are: "Foucault oltre Foucault. A politics of philosophy” (2014; 2 ed. 2022); “Diritto Vivente: Ravaisson, Tarde, Hariou” (2020); “Politics of philosophy. Istituzioni, soggetti, discorsi, pratiche" (with P. Cesaroni (Eds.), 2016); "From within. Biopolitics, bioeconomy, Italian Theory (2018

Augusto Jobim do Amaral, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Professor of the Postgraduate Science Program PUCRS criminals; professor of the Program Postgraduate in Philosophy from PUCRS; Doctor in History of Thought (Coimbra, Portugal) and PhD in Criminal Sciences from PUCRS.

 

José Luís Ferraro, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.

PhD in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PPGEDU/PUCRS), permanent professor of the Postgraduate Programs in Education (PPGEDU) and Education in Science and Mathematics (PPGEDUCEM) at PUCRS.

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Published

2023-10-27

How to Cite

Chignola, S., Amaral, A. J. do, & Ferraro, J. L. (2023). The eye and ear: Michel Foucault and the «Confessions of the Flesh». Veritas (Porto Alegre), 68(1), e44632 . https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2023.1.44632

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Vol. 68 No. 1 (2023): Single Volume

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