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Sincere Words "and" Concern ",

Posted on:2011-09-05Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:C ZhaoFull Text:PDF
GTID:1115360305997464Subject:Foreign philosophy
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The dissertation contributes to inquiry of Michel Foucault's interpretation on ancient philosophy. The author, with this dissertation, is in the hope of presenting Foucault in a different image, the one with the character of ancient philosophy.Regarding "the character of ancient philosophy", which has its core as philosophical inquiry:technology/art of life (tekhne tou biou), is in the way of "episteme" (mathesis), "exercise" (askesis); and is in the philosophical purpose of "elaboration of ethics"(ethopoiesis).Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is dual, to interpret ancient philosophy from Foucault's perspective, to understand Foucault in the context of ancient philosophy.The dissertation claims to launch the topic from Foucault's later years' thoughts, to understand his earlier years' thoughts in a retrospective way.-In his later years, Foucault started on the proposition that "the government of self and others" which was interpreted with Greek philosophy, for the choice of the proposition was set on the coordinate point of the Greek term "parresia"(true speech/free speech).With this concept in mind, Foucault successfully established communications for three fields:truth, governmentality and ethics, reaching the final thesis on the relation between subjectivity and truth.In detail, the term "parresia" appeared first in the later periods of 5 BCE, (seen in works of Euripides). In the beginning, it was used to describe political scenes. Roman historian Polybius used three words to summarize Greek democracy:"demokratia", "isegoria", "parresia". One of them was "parresia", meaning the individual with "dunasteia"(dynamic/power) rules over others, who delivers speeches in public in order to govern others. Foucault described it as "Periclean parresia"From 5 BCE to earlier 4 BCE, Greek's democracy systems declined, free speech of few individuals turned out to be free speech of everyone and for everything.-Breaking down of the structure of outspokenness and decline of Greek democracy system were two sides of one coin.Then, the usage of the term "parresia" turned to the field of philosophy-ethnics. The function of "parresia" changed from "governing others" to "guiding others to govern self", urging them to "take care of the self"(epimeleia heautou), and "elaborate the ethics"(ethopoiein). This is the "Socratic parresia".Regarding the Socratic parresia, the dissertation mainly discusses its relationship with politics, with individual soul, and with other discourses (mainly rhetorics). In other words, relevant to politics, adoring soul, excluding rhetorics.Now that the Socratic parresia is to urge men to care of themselves,-not care of property, reputation, but care of yourself, So then, the dissertation undergoes the transition to Part II:"Care of the self".In order to explain "care of the self", Foucault first started from Plato's Alcibiades; this dialogic article is relevant to caring of the self and politics, partly relevant to shortcomings in education, and relevant to Eros. In the first two centuries, AD, "care of the self" broke the limitation of politics and Eros, changed to be care of the self only for the sake of self. Foucault called these two centuries as the golden age of "culture of self" and "care of the self". So Foucault focused on the phenomenon of "turning to self"(se convertere ad se), which was on two axes "mathesis", and "askesis".The Part III starts from the concept of "chresis aphrodison"(use of pleasure), discussing how Greeks were "stylized" in life through the course of "use of pleasure", and how they achieved the goal "aesthetics of existence". So in a broad sense, "use of pleasure" is a chapter of "a history of technologies of the self".
Keywords/Search Tags:Foucault, ancient philosophy, free speech (parr(e|^)sia), care of self (epimeleia heautou)
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