자기 배려로서의 자기 인식과 파레시아: 미셸 푸코의 해석을 중심으로

Abstract

Michel Foucault explores the meaning of self-care for the Ancient Greek through the archaeological method. Self-care or the care for the self, as Foucault argues, has been unnoticed or hidden by the predominant understanding of self-awareness. It was, however, commonly understood by the ancient Greek as the universal precept and ethical practice. For them, self-awareness was rather subordinate to the practice of self-care. The reason to know and to examine oneself is mainly to care for the self. The Greek notion of Parrhesia, or “telling the truth,” is the first clue for us to understand the practice of the self-care. The Ancient Greek understood the meaning of human being nothing other than a relationship with the truth. It is this relationship that must be materialized in one’s life. Parrhesia indicates the act of truthful speaking even in case of life-threatening danger. This is a personal and existential resolution which is rooted in the very relationship one establishes with the truth. Therefore, truth is understood not as a matter of awareness, but as a statement which is performed throughout living. For this reason, the ancient Greek regards the subject “I” as a work of art. This paper examines Foucault’s interpretation on the self-care as follows: it is the ethical practice to relate words to life in harmony, and to cultivate the autonomous self towards the growth of life.