Ethics, Care of the Self and Parrhesia: A Foucauldian Guide to the Self-Constitution of the Subject

Abstract

In recent decades, ethics has emerged as a central theme in the human sciences. Moral concerns have gained prominence as a result of the disintegration of the sociocultural homogeneity of modernity and the concomitant relativization of values, morality, and lifestyles, which for many constitutes the core of the postmodern condition. In this context, there have been notable attempts, especially within post-structuralist and postmodernist traditions, to deal with the dissolution of foundations - moral or otherwise - of contemporary life and to confront the situation of radical contingency and ethical pluralism that presents itself to each of us. At the same time, reflections on ethics in a post-structural and postmodern context have largely been casual and sporadic, in line with their rejection of systematic theory and preference for dispersed micronarratives and local/contingent knowledge. However, there is a notable exception: the later works of Michel Foucault, who developed an alternative to modern ethics. Essentially, Foucault seeks to challenge prescriptive moral systems, using Kant's categorical imperative as an archetypal example, since this type of moral code functions as an instrument of "normalization" of the subject and of their integration into the power-knowledge apparatus. In contrast, Foucault conceptualizes an incessant and playful transgression of proposed limits and normative structures, as well as the continuous renewal of the subject according to self-established criteria, to the detriment of externally imposed criteria. By adopting this position, Foucault aims to create fractures that enhance a space of freedom understood as a space of concrete freedom, that is, the possible transformation of the subject.