The Subject of Desire and the Hermeneutics of Thoughts
Foucault’s Reading of Augustine and Cassian in Confessions of the Flesh
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12947359 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Herman Westerink (Radboud University Nijmegen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 24-47 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Foucault Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1832-5203 • E-ISSN: 1832-5203 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.22439/fs.vi33.6799 |
| OpenAlex | W4313410015 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 6 |
Although Foucault presented History of Sexuality Vol. 4: Confessions of the Flesh as a crucial part in the study of the genealogy of the subject of desire, Foucault’s analyses of early Christian doctrine and pastoral technologies do not support the claim that an analytic of the subject of desire was established in early Christianity. This can be shown through a reconstruction of his readings of Augustine and Cassian. Augustine’s doctrinal views of the human condition and the association of libido and disobedience to law are not accompanied by the production of technologies for the hermeneutics of desire. Cassian’s pastoral technologies of obedience and subjection to the will of the spiritual director are organized around the hermeneutics of thoughts, and they aim at establishing an inner detachment from misleading thoughts through examination of conscience. This reconstruction opens new trajectories for a genealogy of the subject of desire and for a genealogy of pastoral power and governmentality
Art · Christianity · Conscience · Epistemology · Governmentality · Hermeneutics · Human sexuality · Literature · Obedience · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Reading (process · Sociology · Subject (documents · Subjectivity · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Theological Perspectives and Practices · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |