This paper develops an Augustinian response to political problems diagnosed by Michel Foucault＇s analysis of modem power. Foucault argues that power in the modem age is not repressive but creative. Instead of prohibi...This paper develops an Augustinian response to political problems diagnosed by Michel Foucault＇s analysis of modem power. Foucault argues that power in the modem age is not repressive but creative. Instead of prohibiting acts, political power disciplines and normalizes subjects. Foucault＇s alternative consists in practices of aesthetic self-creation not linked to transcendent or natural order. Within Augustine＇s account of the purposive nature of love and desire, however, lies an implicit critique of Foucault＇s ethic of aesthetic self-creation. Augustine＇s eudaimonism allows him to resist the process of normalization. Augustine provides an alternative to both modem political practice and a Foucauldian practice of aesthetic self-creation.展开更多
文摘This paper develops an Augustinian response to political problems diagnosed by Michel Foucault＇s analysis of modem power. Foucault argues that power in the modem age is not repressive but creative. Instead of prohibiting acts, political power disciplines and normalizes subjects. Foucault＇s alternative consists in practices of aesthetic self-creation not linked to transcendent or natural order. Within Augustine＇s account of the purposive nature of love and desire, however, lies an implicit critique of Foucault＇s ethic of aesthetic self-creation. Augustine＇s eudaimonism allows him to resist the process of normalization. Augustine provides an alternative to both modem political practice and a Foucauldian practice of aesthetic self-creation.
