The Aesthetics Of Existence As Ethics

Foucault's aesthetics of existence is a theory model of the modern poetic existence which is based on the art of Greek and Roman's philosophers'way of conduction themselves and treating people, and his own experience as well. It is not only a series of skills of existence, art of death and life, profound life styles and flexible living strategy. For which, his aesthetics of existence has a theoretical value. It is practical and can be a practical principle for one who wants to surpass himself.This thesis mainly discusses about Foucault's aesthetics of existence as ethics. His theory was a kind of ethic considered its theoretical origins and content and value.Chapter one introduces the four theoretical origins of Foucault's aesthetics of existence, which includes: the aesthetics of existence of Greek, Roman Christian's the technology of oneself,self-culture from Renaissance time to the modern and Dionysus philosophy of Nietzsche.Foucault's aesthetics of existence originated from that of Greek directly. The difference went that he believed the cultivation of self is the most important part in Greek's aesthetic of existence, to which he paid special attention. This chapter also discusses the differences of"cultivation of self"between Socrates's theory, Scotistists and that of the early Christian's religion.The second theoretical originated from Christian religion's the technology of oneself. The Christian religion is nearly ascetic, which emphasizes"the technology of oneself"and cares for self by denying oneself. As for a kind of aesthetic of existence, Christian's religion's the technology of oneself is of great significance in helping one cultivate a habit of speaking honestly and frankly. Foucault believed that one would be a free subject if he spoke whatever honestly and frankly.During the European Renaissance time in 16th century when people were trying to create new culture on the basis of ancient culture, philosophers explored the real value of ancient cultivation of self's fundamental principles. So the cultivation of self in this time was actually a kind of ethics.As Foucault's spiritual guide, Nietzsche's influence toward him was profound, especially Nietzsche's Dionysus philosophy which influenced his aesthetic of existence greatly. Nietzsche defined Dionysus spirit as the following statement:"I call it'Dionysus spirit'which affirms life. One with such a spirit enjoys the procedure of scarifying his willpower that is endless,even when he faces the toughest problems."Foucault's aesthetics of existence not only drew quintessence from Greek theory, but also got some inspiration form modern ethics critically. In chapter two, we will talk about the main content of his theory which includes: the core of aesthetics of existence is care for self; the relationship between care for self and others; the pursuit of care for self is freedom.Foucault found that the core of aesthetics of existence was care for self during the study of art of life and aesthetic existence. Aesthetic existence is"the technology of oneself",is the aesthetics of caring for self, is the practical intelligence of promoting one's existence to a happy and pleasant state. Foucault believed that there was a priority when one was dealing with the relation between himself and others.As for culture of self, Foucault studied the definition of"self-rescue"which is quite an important term in the study of care for self. Self-rescue has an active meaning, which mainly refers to that one's own destination should be determined by himself. This term hints that one should create his own happiness with his own confidence, ability, creativity within his living activities.Care for self covers two dimensions: on one hand, one should control his own soul and body and avoid being self-indulgent; on the other hand, one should care for others and avoid scarifying others'benefits to benefit himself. These two dimensions are closely related with each other because self-control itself embodies one's attitude toward others. The aesthetic of existence having self-control a purpose not only considers the relations with others and meanwhile, but also studies each other's responsible span deeply from the theoretical and practical points of view. Care for self must be realized with the help of others. So this also relates to others. One who cares for himself has to care for others or he will be more likely to dictate others. Aesthetics existence is a free practice. The freedom mentioned here means that one should be his own master or an aesthetic doer who can control his desire easily. The self studies in aesthetic existence is one who is free and creates whatever he wants to with his will, and continuously realizes aesthetic, surpasses life unit and existence process.in chapter 3, we will discuss its value in detail. From the theoretical point of view, Foucault's aesthetic existence provided us a new ethic sample, which is different from western modern ethics that emphasizes principles and displines, and Chinese traditional ethics, or even from Greek and Roman's ethics that emphasizes action and practice.From the practical point of view, Foucault's aesthetics of existence is not only a theory, but also a series of principle. In Greek, people emphasized the cultivation of self and care for one's own soul and as well. When it comes to modern time, which is material time with a high living standard, unfortunately, people no longer care their souls. But in fact, even at this time, Foucault's aesthetics existence is still practical which is different form ordinary ethics.At the end of the thesis, we come to the conclusion that Foucault's aesthetic existence is a kind of ethics with the proofs given above. Foucault's aesthetic existence helps a lot modern people who try to cultivate themselves through meditation and surpass themselves.