The Government of Self and Others Also in this series: SOCIETY MUSTT BE DEFENDED (North America & Canada) ABNORMAL (North America & Canada) HERMENEUTICS OFTHE SUBJECT (North America & Canada) PSYCHIATRIC POWER SECURITY, TERRITORY, POPULATION THE BIRTH OF BIOPOLITICS Forthcoming in this series: THE WILL TO KNOW PENAL THEORIES AND INSTITUTIONS THE PUNITIVE SOCIETY ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE LIVING SUBJECTIVITY AND TRUTH THE COURAGE OF TRUTH M ICHEL FOUCAULT The Government of Self and Others L ECTURES AT THE COLLÈGE DE FR ANCE 1982–1983 Edited by Frédéric Gros General Editors: François Ewald and Alessandro Fontana English Series Editor: Arnold I. Davidson TRANSLATED BY GRAHAM BURCHELL This book is supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as part of the Burgess programme run by the Cultural Department of the French Embassy in London. (www.frenchbooknews.com) THE GOVERNMENT OF SELF AND OTHERS © Éditions du Seuil/Gallimard 2008, Edition established under the direction of François Ewald and Alessandro Fontana, by Frédéric Gros. Translation © Graham Burchell 2010. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC 1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in France by Éditions de Seuil/Gallimard under the title Le Gouvernement de soi et des autres: Cours au Collège de France, 1982–1983. English translation published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-4039-8667-2 ISBN 978-0-230-27473-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230274730 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 CONTENTS Foreword: François Ewald and Alessandro Fontana xi Translator’s Note xvii one 5 January 1983: First Hour 1 Study of Kant’s text: What is ف .Remarks on method ف .Conditions of publication: journals ف ??Enlightenment The encounter between Christian Aufklärung and Jewish Philosophy and present ف .Haskala: freedom of conscience reality. The question of the Revolution. Two critical filiations. two 5 January 1983: Second Hour 25 The idea of tutelage (minorité): neither natural powerlessness nor authoritarian deprivation of rights. Way out from the The shadow of the ف .condition of tutelage and critical activity three Critiques. The difficulty of emancipation: laziness Motivations ف .and cowardice; the predicted failure of liberators of the condition of tutelage: superimposition of obedience and absence of reasoning; confusion between the private and public use of reason. The problematic turn at the end of Kant’s text. three 12 January 1983: First Hour 41 Definition of the subject to be studied ف .Reminders of method this year. Parresia and culture of self. Galen’s On the Passions and Errors of the Soul. Parresia: difficulty in An ف .defining the notion; bibliographical reference points enduring, plural, and ambiguous notion. Plato faced with the tyrant of Syracuse: an exemplary scene of parre–sia. The echo vi contents of Oedipus. Parresia versus demonstration, teaching, and discussion. The element of risk. fourr 12 January 1983: Second Hour 61 Irreducibility of the parrhesiastic to the performative utterance: opening up of an unspecified risk/public expression of a personal conviction/bringing a free courage into play. Pragmatics and dramatics of discourse. Classical use of the notion of parre–sia: democracy (Polybius) and citizenship (Euripides). five 19 January 1983: First Hour 75 Political ف .Ion in the mythology and history of Athens context of Euripides’ tragedy: the Nicias peace. History of Ion’s The implication of ف .Alethurgic schema of the tragedy ف .birth the three truth-tellings: oracle, confession (l’aveu), and political Structural comparison of Ion and Oedipus the ف .discourse .The adventures of truth-telling in Ion: the double half-lie ف .King six 19 January 1983: Second Hour 97 Ion: A nobody, son of nobody. Three categories of citizen. Consequences of political intrusion by Ion: private hatreds and pub- Parresia irreducible to the ف .In search of a mother ف .lic tyranny The agonistic ف .actual exercise of power and to the citizen’s status game of truth-telling: free and risky. Historical context: the Cleon/ Nicias debate. Creusa’s anger. seven 26 January 1983: First Hour 113 Continuation and end of the comparison between Ion and Oedipus: the truth does not arise from an investigation but from the clash of passions. The rule of illusions and passions. The cry of confession and accusation. G. Dumézil’s analyses of Apollo. Dumézil’s Tragic modulation of the theme of the ف .categories applied to Ion .Tragic modulation of the theme of gold ف .voice eight 26 January 1983: Second Hour 131 Tragic modulation of the theme of fertility. Parresiaa as imprecation: public denunciation by the weak of the injustice of the Contents vii powerful. Creusa’s second confession (aveu): the voice of Final episodes: from murder plan to ف .(confession (confession Athena’s appearance. nine 2 February 1983: First Hour 149 Reminder of the Polybius text. Return to Ion: divine and human veridictions. The three forms of parre–sia: statutory- political; judicial; moral. Political parre–sia: its connection with democracy; its basis in an agonistic structure. Return to the Politeia ف .Polybius text: the ise-goria/parresiaa relationship and dunasteia: thinking of politics as experience. Parresia in Euripides: The Phoenician Women; Hippolytus; The Bacchae; Orestes. The Trial of Orestes. ten 2 February 1983: Second Hour 173 The rectangle of parre–sia: formal condition, de facto condition, Example of the correct ف .truth condition, and moral condition functioning of democratic parre–siaa in Thucydides: three discourses of Pericles. Bad parre–siaa in Isocrates. eleven 9 February 1983: First Hour 187 Parresia: everyday usage; political usage. Reminder of three exemplary scenes: Thucydides; Isocrates; Plutarch. Lines of The four great problems of ancient ف .evolution of parre–sia political philosophy: the ideal city; the respective merits of democ- racy and autocracy; addressing the Prince’s soul; the philosophy/ .Study of three texts by Plato ف .rhetoric relationship twelve 9 February 1983: Second Hour 209 Study of Letter V: the phone– of ف .Plato’s Letters: the context constitutions; reasons for non-involvement. Study of Letter VII. Dion’s history. Plato’s political autobiography. The journey to Sicily. Why Plato accepts: kairos; philia; ergon. thirteen 16 February 1983: First Hour 223 The ف .Comparison with the Alcibiades ف .Philosophical ergon reality of philosophy: the courageous address to power. First viii contents The philosophical ف .condition of reality: listening, the first circle -The reality of philoso ف .oeuvre: a choice; a way; an application phy as work of self on self (second circle). fourteen 16 February 1983: Second Hour 245 The failure of Dionysius. The Platonic rejection of writing. Mathemata versus sunousia. Philosophy as practice of the soul. The philosophical digression of Letter VII: the five elements of knowledge. The third circle: the circle of knowledge. The philosopher and the legislator. Final remarks on contemporary interpretations of Plato. fifteen 23 February 1983: First Hour 259 The advice ف .The enigmatic blandness of Plato’s political advice The diagnosis, practice of persuasion, proposal ف .to Dionysius Study of Letter ف .Advice to Dion’s friends ف .of a regime .Parresiaa underpins political advice ف .VIII sixteen 23 February 1983: Second Hour 285 Philosophy and politics: necessary relationship but im possible Cynical and Platonic game with regard to ف .coincidence The new historical conjuncture: thinking a new ف .politics From the public square to ف .political unit beyond the city-state the Prince’s soul. The Platonic theme of the philosopher-king. seventeen 2 March 1983: First Hour 299 Points in the ف .Reminders about political parre–sia evolution of political parre–sia. The major questions of ancient Ontology of ف .Study of a text by Lucian ف .philosophy discourses of veridiction. Socratic speech in the Apology. The paradox of the political non-involvement of Socrates. eighteen 2 March 1983: Second Hour 325 End of study of Socrates’ Apology: parre–siaa/rhetoric opposition. Study of the Phaedrus: general plan of the dialogue. The conditions of good logos. Truth Contents ix as permanent function of discourse. Dialectic and .Philosophical parre–sia ف .psychagogy nineteen 9 March 1983: First Hour 339 The historical turnaround of parre–sia: from the political game to the philosophical game. Philosophy as practice of parre–sia: the example of Aristippus.