Michel Foucault and the Cultivation of the Self

Michel Foucault: The Cultivation of the Self Michel Foucault (1926-1984) spent much of the later part of his studies on the idea of the care of the self and cultivation of the self. He defined such care as using one’s own reason to ascertain who one is and how he can be his best. Foucault takes several perspectives on this theme, from medical to phenomenological, to develop his focus on finding out who one …

…are of living becomes universal to principles of nature and reason. The work one must carry out on oneself, in the cultivation of the self, undergoes a kind of modification. The rule of the individual over himself takes a form of enjoyment without disturbance or desire. Self-knowledge becomes more important through various exercises of control, conversation with others, self-monitoring, and knowledge as power. This, consequently, is central to the formation of Foucault’s ethical subject.