Foucault: Biopolitics and the Care of the Self

Semester and Year	SP 2012
Course Number	IDSEM-UG1339
Section	001
Instructor	Bradley Lewis
Days	Thu
Time	9:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement	HUM

Description

French philosopher and cultural historian Michel Foucault’s radical approach to the power, knowledge, and subjectivity destabilized rigid distinctions between the individual and discursive structures, and it anticipated a new form of "bio-politics." These approaches have been broadly influential across the humanities, cultural studies, and social theory. Foucault’s later work on care of the self was devoted to understanding philosophy as a way of life, a spiritual exercise, and a practice of freedom. This work opens up new ways of thinking about ancient philosophy and religious life. To help unpack the religious aspects of Foucault’s later work we will collaborate and share readings with Joseph Thometz’s Postmodern Religious Thought class. Authors we will discuss beyond Foucault include Stuart Hall, John Caputo, Pierre Hadot, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Thomas Merton, and Thich Nhat Hahn.

Syllabus

IDSEM-UG1339

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)