The Truths We Tell Ourselves: Foucault on <i>Parrhesia</i>

Michel Foucault’s later concept of parrhesia presents a number of potential interpretive problems with respect to his work as a whole and his conception of truth. This article presents an alternative reading of parrhesia, which develops its concept through Foucault’s earlier pronouncements on truth...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zacharia Simpson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CBS Open Journals 2012-03-01
Series:Foucault Studies
Online Access:https://192.168.7.24:443/index.php/foucault-studies/article/view/3461
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Summary:Michel Foucault’s later concept of parrhesia presents a number of potential interpretive problems with respect to his work as a whole and his conception of truth. This article presents an alternative reading of parrhesia, which develops its concept through Foucault’s earlier pronouncements on truth and fiction. Seen this way, parrhesia becomes a means whereby one enacts useful fictions within the context of one’s life. As a practice, which demands self-mastery, orientation towards truth, and a command of one’s life, parrhesia becomes crucial to an aesthetics of existence.
ISSN:1832-5203