The aesthetics of existence in the work of Michel Foucault

Abstract

Foucault's analysis of an aesthetics of existence is presented as an instrument to practice ethical thought without the presupposition of an autonomous subject. The implications of Foucault's aesthetics of existence for ethical thought are traced to the work of Nietzsche. In Foucault's work, experiences of oneself are not a given, but are constituted in power relations and true-and-false games. In the interplay of truths and power relations, the individual constitutes a certain relationship to him- or herself. Foucault designated the relation to oneself and one's existence as the main area of ethical concern and the most important field where aesthetic values are to be applied. In his aesthetics of existence, he invited the individual to prob lematize the relationship with the self and by using 'self-techniques' to transform it into a work of art. The relation to intimate others, shaped as friendship, is crucial to this ethical-aesthetic approach.

Power, Rationality, and the Art of Living through Socio-Technical Change

“…These techniques of the self involve the problematization of that part of one's life requiring ethical care; the way one deals with this ethical issue; a critical and active attitude to transform oneself; and a direction towards transforming life into a work of art (Huijer 1999). …”

A Reconceptualisation of the Self in Humanistic Psychology: Heidegger, Foucault and the Sociocultural Turn

“…Brinkman, 2008;Carrette, 2003). However, it is important to keep in mind that while Foucault once disavowed the potential for human transcendence, he fell back into offering concepts of transcendence (his aesthetics of existence) later in his career as a solution to his over-determined construction of subjectivity (Huijer, 1999).…”

“…154-155) The practice of critique enables the unreflexive subject to reactivate their creative powers which Foucault referred to as an aesthetics of existence. An aesthetic of existence is an ethic for fashioning new kinds of subjectivities, working under the principle of autonomy, where new ways of looking at the world are crafted and practiced, and where style and artistry is applied to one's strengths and weaknesses (Huijer, 1999).…”

Fundamento nietzscheano y potencial antropológico de la estética de la existencia foucaultiana

“…Bardon y Josserand (2011) hacen una lectura nietzscheana del Foucault del "arte de vivir" proponiendo que el proyecto foucaultiano entero puede ser abordado como una genealogía de la moral. Distintas variaciones de la perspectiva ética del concepto estética de la existencia son desarrolladas por Huijer (1999) 6. Reinaldo Giraldo presenta la estética de la existencia como una forma de resistencia en cuanto «abre al sujeto la posibilidad de resistir a los poderes que intentan dominarlo» (2008, p. 90).…”