From Ethical Subject to Self of Eros: The Aesthetics of Existence from Foucault to Agamben

Authors

Renjie Ye Ye Renjie, Ph. D., is a lecturer in Department of Philosophy in School of Public Administration, Nanjing Normal University, whose present research interests are Continental Philosophy, History of Western Political Thought and Contemporary Literary Theory.Follow

Abstract

The aesthetics of existence is at the core of Foucault's later ethical genealogy, in which the superiority of the free subject in the self-construction over power can establish the superiority of the ethical subject over the moral subject and that of the governance of the self over the governance of others. Agamben's concept of the “form-of-life” in Part IV of the Homo Sacer is developed from his reflections upon Foucault, which suggests that Foucault's aesthetics of existence does not attain what he expects because of its association with tekhne or power. Therefore, Agamben critically inherits Foucault's thought from an ontological perspective and develops his existential aesthetics of the self of eros.

Keywords

aesthetics of existence, ethical subject, ontology of self, self of eros

First Page

193

Last Page

201

Recommended Citation

Ye, Renjie. 2024. "From Ethical Subject to Self of Eros: The Aesthetics of Existence from Foucault to Agamben." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (6): pp.193-201. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss6/21