CONFESSION AND POLITICAL NORMATIVITY
Résumé
The theme of confession, present in the reflection of Michel Foucault since the early
1960s, pursued the same direction of his researches from the late 1970s concerning
the problem of government and the studies of governmentality. Under this perspective,
confession is taken as recognition through which the subject authenticates in himself
or herself his or her own actions and thoughts. Therefore, it is not only a verbal act by
means of which the subject states the truth of his or her being; confession also binds
the subject to truth, throwing him or her in a relation of dependency regards the other,
and, at the same time, modifying the relationship that he or she establishes with himself
or herself. According to Foucault, this is what explains the massive growth of practic-
es of confession in Western societies up until their actual inscription at the heart of
procedures of individualization typical of modern political power. This paper explores
Foucault’s analysis of confessional practices and its recent developments in the work of
Giorgio Agamben (Opus Dei. Archeologia dell’Ufficio , 2012) and Roberto Esposito (Due.
La macchina della teologia politica e il posto del pensiero, 2013).
Domaines
Science politique
Origine :
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