Han-Pile, Beatrice (2021) 'Two puzzles in the Early Christian Constitution of the Self: Reflections on Agency in Foucault’s interpretation of Cassian.' Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 120 (3). pp. 329-347. ISSN 0066-7374
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Abstract
I tease out two early Christian puzzles about agency: (a) Agential Control: how can agents selfconstitute if their primary experience of themselves is not one of control, as in Greek antiquity, but of relative powerlessness? And (b): Ethical Expertise: how can agents constitute themselves as ethical agents if they cannot trust themselves to recognise, and act in the light of, the good? I argue, first, that Foucault saw the importance of these puzzles and focused on extreme obedience as affording a possible resolution; second, that he failed to resolve the puzzles because of his reliance on an overly voluntarist and reflective understanding of obedience as an exercise of will; and finally, that turning to Cassian’s own thoughts on the relation between extreme obedience and humility as kenosis affords us a way out of the puzzles.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Foucault; Cassian; agency; activity; passivity; self-constitution |
Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Humanities > Philosophy and Art History, School of |
SWORD Depositor: | Elements |
Depositing User: | Elements |
Date Deposited: | 06 Jul 2020 20:26 |
Last Modified: | 06 Jan 2022 14:15 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/28097 |
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