Putting it together: Albert Camus, Michel Foucault and an ethics of the self

Article


Parkes, Geoffrey. 2008. "Putting it together: Albert Camus, Michel Foucault and an ethics of the self." University of Bucharest Review. 10 (2), pp. 67-72.
Article Title

Putting it together: Albert Camus, Michel Foucault and an ethics of the self

Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorParkes, Geoffrey
Journal TitleUniversity of Bucharest Review
Journal Citation10 (2), pp. 67-72
Number of Pages6
Year2008
Place of PublicationBucharest, Romania
Web Address (URL)http://www.english-unib.ro/downloads/UBR/Issue%20II%202008.pdf
Abstract

Throughout modernity, the postmodern, and its aftermath, the self, its forms of existence and its very existence have been questioned. But what if, as Jonathan Dollimore writes, 'the neuroses, anxiety and alienation associated with the self in crisis are not as much the consequences of its recent breakdown as the very stuff of its creation, and of the culture-Western European Culture-which is sustains?'
And what if we review the works of Albert Camus and Michel Foucault in this context, analysing their works as both works on the self (oeuvre) and works on their selves (travaille1)? What are the parallels between these dissimilar icons of post-Holocaust French thought and how might their being read together aid our understanding of what it means to craft an ethics of the self! This paper draws on my research into the possibilities of a post-Holocaust ethics of the self, using two writers whose work has been marginalised in the 'turn to ethics'. By viewing their work in relation to events ( their own time and their engagement with debates about the self, we see their importance in contemporary discussions and the value of their self-reflexive action and radical scepticism in crafting our selves.

KeywordsMichel Foucault; Albert Camus; ethics of the self; selftran; ormation; absurdity
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020500306. Ethical theory
500321. Social and political philosophy
520401. Cognition
Byline AffiliationsFaculty of Arts
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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