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A review by rvandenboomgaard
The History of Sexuality: 3: The Care of the Self by Michel Foucault
5.0
Foucault is, actually, surprisingly neutral given his position on the direction the dominant morality of his time took towards sexuality. This is an incredibly rich, truly interdisciplinary work - which becomes all the more clear, the further one progresses along the volumes. Although I might very well need a break from ‘The History of Sexuality’, I am definitely looking forward to reading (and, admittedly, buying) the fourth and final volume. I am keen to read how Foucault rounds this project off in ‘Confessions of the Flesh’, all the more so because it is about double the size of the average amount of pages for the first three volumes. If about half of that work consists of the address of a topic as all the former three have done (which will likely be the long-awaited topic of the approach to sexuality as held in christianity, and (philosophical) ground thereof), that would mean the other half would likely be spent on a synergy of all four parts. To me, that sounds like an absolute treat.
Truly exhilarating to come to realise not only the extent to which sexuality (in)forms our outward identity, but even more so the extent to which sexuality can be seen as a practice of the inner self. This way, it stresses how identity really is not much more than the outer layer of our personality, the layer of veneer that is shown and shaped in interaction with others, of which we can wonder if it is even connected to the self at all, and not rather a mask of sorts. It opens possibilities to distinguish the discrepancies between self and identity that are so prevalent in humanity, especially in our current societal blueprints. Additionally, note how this opens the way to various other incarnations of 'The History of...' - if this goes for sexuality, why not for the discussed dietetics (understood as that which we consume as to best suit our individual bodies)? Or of friendship? Or affectionality, intellectuality, sensuality?
If there is one thing to take away from these series, it is that none of us are exactly the same, although we might have been wrought from the same matter.
Truly exhilarating to come to realise not only the extent to which sexuality (in)forms our outward identity, but even more so the extent to which sexuality can be seen as a practice of the inner self. This way, it stresses how identity really is not much more than the outer layer of our personality, the layer of veneer that is shown and shaped in interaction with others, of which we can wonder if it is even connected to the self at all, and not rather a mask of sorts. It opens possibilities to distinguish the discrepancies between self and identity that are so prevalent in humanity, especially in our current societal blueprints. Additionally, note how this opens the way to various other incarnations of 'The History of...' - if this goes for sexuality, why not for the discussed dietetics (understood as that which we consume as to best suit our individual bodies)? Or of friendship? Or affectionality, intellectuality, sensuality?
If there is one thing to take away from these series, it is that none of us are exactly the same, although we might have been wrought from the same matter.