On the Government of the Living Lectures at the Collège de France, 1979-1980

Intheselecturesdeliveredin1980,MichelFoucaultgivesanimportantnewinflectiontohishistoryof“regimesoftruth.”Followingonfromthethemesofknowledge-powerandgovernmentality,heturnshisattentionheretotheethicaldomainofpracticesoftechniquesoftheself.Whyandhow,heasks,doestheexerciseofpowerasgovernmentdemandnotonlyactsofobedienceandsubmission,but“truthacts”inwhichindividualssubjecttorelationsofpowerarealsorequiredtobesubjectsinproceduresoftruth-telling?Howandwhyaresubjectsrequirednotjusttotellthetruth,buttotellthetruthaboutthemselves?Thesequestionsleadtoare-readingofSophocles’OedipustheKingand,throughanexaminationofthetextsofTertullian,Cassian,andothers,toananalysisofthe‘truthacts’inearlyChristianpracticesofbaptism,penance,andspiritualdirectioninwhichbelieversarecalledupontomanifestthetruthofthemselvesassubjectsalwaysdangeroffallingintosin.Inthepublicexpressionofthesubject’sconditionasasinner,intheritualsofrepentanceandpenance,andinthedetailedverbalizationofthoughtsintheexaminationofconscience,weseetheorganizationofapastoralsystemfocuseduponconfession.