On the Government of the Living: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1979-1980

Cours au Collège de France/Lectures at the Collège de France #9

by Michel Foucault, Arnold I. Davidson (Editor), Graham Burchell (Translation)

In these lectures delivered in 1980, Michel Foucault gives an important new inflection to his history of 'regimes of truth.'  Following on from the themes of knowledge-power and governmentality, he turns his attention here to the ethical domain of practices of techniques of the self. Why and how, he asks, does the exercise of power as government demand not only acts of obedience and submission, but 'truth acts' in which individuals subject to relations of power are also required to be subjects in procedures of truth-telling? How and why are subjects required not just to tell the truth, but to tell the truth about themselves? These questions lead to a re-reading of Sophocles' Oedipus the King and, through an examination of the texts of Tertullian, Cassian and others, to an analysis of the 'truth acts' in early Christian practices of baptism, penance, and spiritual direction in which believers are called upon to manifest the truth of themselves as subjects always danger of falling into sin. In the public expression of the subject's condition as a sinner, in the rituals of repentance and penance, and in the detailed verbalization of thoughts in the examination of conscience, we see the organization of a pastoral system focused upon confession.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Sociology, France, Ebooks, Theory, History

383 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Paul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationships between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Though often cited as a structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels. His thought has influenced academics, especially those working in communication studies, anthropology, psychology, sociology, criminology, cultural studies, literary theory, feminism, Marxism and critical theory.
Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV, at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser, and at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he earned degrees in philosophy and psychology. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961). After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications that displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".
From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault was admitted to the Collège de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also became active in several left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods that emphasized the role that power plays in society.
Foucault died in Paris from complications of HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from complications of the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this is really important for Foucault's development, or maybe there's a much larger audience for explication of early Christian theories of baptism than I had suspected, but this is wildly over-rated here on Goodreads. The basic idea remains compelling: when did 'truth' become what we think of as 'truth'? But I'd skip this unless you're writing a dissertation on him, which I, for the record, am not.

[Paige Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Christian has the deep truth within himself and he is yoked to this deep secret, indefinitely bent over to it and indefinitely constrained to show the other the treasure that his work, thought, attention, conscience, and discourse ceaselessly draw it from it” (p. 313).

[Sacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘In any case, there is a kinship between being and the soul and the truth is nothing other than the manifestation of the soul’s kinship with being.’ p. 144

‘We find in Saint Paul (...): “it is by the law that we know sin.” Should this not be understood in the following way: it is the law, the very existence of a law dividing good and evil, that reveals sin?’ p. 183

‘Ancient supplication operates as the transfer of obligation through the manifestation of misfortune.’ p. 213

‘(...) that even in these most holy figures, even in those closest tot the truth there was a blind spot (...). They are unable to know exactly what they must do, for they do not really know what they can do and they do not really know what they can do because basically they do not know what they are.’ p. 294

‘It is not the value of things that one must recognize, it is the secrets of conscience that must be deciphered.’ p. 297

In Christian examination (...). What is in question is not the truth of my idea; it is the truth of myself who has an idea. It is not the question of truth of what I think, but the question of the truth of I who thinks.’ p. 303

‘(...) one no longer needs to be king, to have killed one’s father, married one’s mother, and ruled over the plague to be forced to discover the truth of oneself. It is enough to be anyone.’ p. 311

‘If you are obliged to tell the truth it is because, without knowing it, despite everything, there’s a bit of Oedipus in you too.’ p. 312

[Molsa Roja(s) · Rating 5 out of 5]

És massa és massa. Sempre amb Foucault es redescobreix, es reafirma, que cada element que contemplen, que cada acció que duem a terme té una rel històrica, que res en la raó és natural sinó històrica i socialment produït. I que aquesta història és sempre una lluita de voluntats, el desig de les voluntats de dominar, d'imposar, en aquest cas l'estructura dogma-confessió cristiana com a dispositiu de subjecció del subjectum, obligat als actes de fe, obligat a l'exploració de si i a l'enunciació de la seva veritat. Molt bo.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como suele ocurrir con los seminarios y textos de Foucault que se enfocan más en el polo "saber" del poder-saber, no es lo que más me interesa. Aún así, es muy preciso, más lineal que otros seminarios, y contiene algunas reflexiones muy interesantes sobre la diferencia entre el enfoque foucaltiano y el marxista.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lecture series is particularly great if you are interested in Foucault's examination of selfhood with regards to early Christian and ancient Greek philosophy. This is a great complementary text to his Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth.

[James Dueñas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foucault demuestra nuevamente el poder de realizar construcciones de Estado desde una óptica social... El gobierno de los vivos es un libro que no puede faltar en la librería

[Bruitsparoles · Rating 5 out of 5]

toujours absolument pertinent (+ blablateur de détails)
aveu + examen + régime (de vérité) + subjectivation + pénitence + direction (volonté) etc.

[joaquin]

Lo disfruté un montón! Entré por la lectura que hizo del Edipo Rey salí pensando en el neoliberalismo... Así es la vida

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

one star removed just to diss myself

[Roger Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the lectures on bio politics and the rise of neoliberalism in 1978-1979, Foucault turned his attention to the development of Christian subjectivation. These lectures begin with a Greece and Rome and a detailed explication of Sophocles' Oedipus. It then shifts to early Christianity, the conventions of baptism, penitence, asceticism, and monasticism. Foucault traces these early innovations to the more full-blown desire for self-surveillance and confession.

[Michael Bennett Cohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Not on the level of "Discipline And Punish," but still fascinating.