Le directeur de conscience, le psychanalyste et le philosophe

reflexión foucaldienne sur l'ethique en tant qu'art de vivre

Jean-Philippe Cantonné

pp. 123-130

in: Daimon Revista Internacional de Filosofia 11, 1995.

Abstract

In his early works on sexuality, Foucault pondered upon the relation between psychoanalysis and Christian confession. The avowal of analytical treatment is on no account an historical breach. The spiritual adviser already works on a discourse, a part of which the advised person isn't aware of. However, the studies Foucault devoted to Antiquity allow us to distinguish between th two pratices. By using the categories of his ethics i.e. ontology, deontology, ascetics and teleology, the differences appear. The Christian subject's hermencutics aims at destroying the form of the self whereas psychoanalysis tends to widen it. Nevertheless, it constitudes a pragmatic of the self that cannot repalce ethics as a philosophical reflection that Foucault, together the Greeks, regards as a transformaticon of the self.

Cited authors

Foucault Michel