Michel Foucault son dönemlerinde özellikle antik Yunanistan’dan başlayarak öznenin kendisini inşa sürecini ele almış ve Yunanistan’da “kendini bilmek”, “kendine özen göstermek” ifadeleriyle tanımlanabilecek bu süreçte kişinin belirli bir mutluluk, bilgelik, ölçülülük durumuna erişmesi için kullandığı ilkeleri de “kendilik pratikleri/teknolojileri” olarak tanımlamıştır. Foucault kendilik teknolojilerinin antik Yunan’da oynadığı rolü öznenin kuruluşu çerçevesinde detaylı olarak incelemiş olmasına karşın, bunların Atina demokratik pratikleri içinde ne anlama geldiğine ve aralarında fiilen nasıl bir ilişkileri olduğuna neredeyse hiç değinmediği gibi, kendilik teknolojilerinin aslen sadece toplum liderliğine aday aristokratik bir çevreye hitap ettiğini öne sürmüştür. Ne var ki düşünür diğer çalışmalarında görüldüğü üzere burada da bazı çelişkiler sergiler. Bu makale Foucault’nun iddia ettiğinin aksine, kendilik kaygısının Atinalı devlet adamlarının söylevlerinde ve çeşitli demokratik düzenlemelerde tüm Atina vatandaşlarına aşılanmak istenen bir hedef olduğunu göstermeyi, aynı zamanda Foucault’nun nerdeyse hiç değinmediği Atina’nın demokratik uygulamaları ve kendilik pratikleri arasındaki ilişkiyi somut bir şekilde vurgulamayı amaçlamaktadır

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Michel Foucault, Atina demokrasisi, kendilik kaygısı, özne, eşcinsellik

The Greek Care of the Self in Foucault and the Athenian Democracy

For a few centuries in Classical Greece, Michel Foucault claimed, people were able to shape their lives according to the principles of beauty, and to “constitute” themselves instead of “discovering” themselves. They achieved this through specific practices conducted by the self on the self to attain a state of happiness, wisdom and moderation. The thinker largely ignores, however, the close relationship between this care of the self and the Athenian democratic mechanism, focusing instead only the process itself. He also argues that these practices were only confined to the future potential leaders of Athens and that they were in essence an aristocratic occupation. This paper aims to prove the opposite, that these “technologies of the self ” were encouraged by speeches and several democratic developments in order to make them more accessible to the general population, and to highlight their organic connection with the Athenian democratic practices, which Foucault barely discusses.

Keywords:

Michel Foucault, Athenian democracy, care of the self, subject, homosexuality,

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ISSN: 1303-8486
Yayın Aralığı: Yıllık
Başlangıç: 2002
Yayıncı: Türk Eskiçağ Bilimleri Enst.

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