How does Foucault define the self?

How does Foucault define the self?

Foucault defines the care of the self in terms of “those intentional and voluntary actions by which men not only set themselves rules of conduct, but also seek to transform themselves, to change themselves in their singular being, and to make their life into an oeuvre” (1986: 10).

What is ethical self formation?

Ethical formation is a dialectical process for Foucault; immersion in the social, and dependency on others alongside responsibilisation of the individual to contribute to his/her own formation simultaneously feature in his account (Infinito, 2003. (2003). Ethical self-formation: A look at the later Foucault.

What is Foucault’s ideology?

Foucault views Ideology much as Marxism does, but he: b) Shifted attention from economic relations to include all relationships between people. c) Shifted attention from the Marxist focus on economics/means of production to power, in more general, universal terms.

What is Foucault’s definition of discourse?

Discourse, as defined by Foucault, refers to: ways of constituting knowledge, together with the social practices, forms of subjectivity and power relations which inhere in such knowledges and relations between them. Discourses are more than ways of thinking and producing meaning.

What is power according to Foucault?

According to Foucault’s understanding, power is based on knowledge and makes use of knowledge; on the other hand, power reproduces knowledge by shaping it in accordance with its anonymous intentions. Power (re-) creates its own fields of exercise through knowledge.

What is Foucault Subjectification?

Subjectification refers to the procedures by which the subject is led to observe herself, analyze herself, interpret herself, and recognize herself as a domain of possible knowledge: “the way the subject experiences [her]self in a game of truth where [s]he relates to [her]self” (Foucault, 1998, p.

Is Foucault a sophist?

A sophism, Foucault argues, is a statement that uses the finitude of words, and the infinitude of things, to avoid an easy correspondence between any given word and any given thing.

How does Michel Foucault define power?

Foucault uses the term ‘power/knowledge’ to signify that power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge, scientific understanding and ‘truth’: ‘Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint. And it induces regular effects of power.

How is literature different from other discourses?

Generally speaking, any time someone uses language to communicate, they’re utilizing discourse. Essentially, without discourse, there would be no literature. Not all discourse is the same, however, and literary scholars break it down into four main types: argument, description, exposition, and narration.

What is care of the self Foucault?

For Foucault, this freedom manifests and perpetuates itself through the ancient practice called care of the self. Foucault often turns to the ancient Greeks in his work, and this concept remains a central theme in his analysis of the individual as subject to various power dynamics. Care of the self constitutes lifelong work on

What is ethical work according to Foucault?

The ethical work consists of the self-forming activities meant to ensure one’s own subjection to a moral authority and transform oneself into an autonomous ethical agent. Foucault refers to these self-forming activities as practices or technologies of the self, and also in the ancient sense of askēsis, or ascetic practices.

What are the four components of discursive formation according to Foucault?

Foucault delimitates what he calls the discursive formation which has four basic elements. As Gutting notes, these are: the objects its statements are about, the kinds of cognitive stature and authority they have [enunciative modality], the concepts in terms of which they are formulated, and the themes or theoretical viewpoints they develop.

What is the mode of subjection Foucault?

The mode of subjection is the way in which the individual establishes its relation to the moral code, recognizes itself as bound to act according to it, and is entitled to view its acts as worthy of moral valorization. The mode of subjection is, as Foucault refers to it, the ‘deontological’ or normative component of ethics.