The study examines how truth-tellers and truth-telling can be cultivated in the context of post-truth politics in the U.S. Following Foucault, it is not concerned with examining the problem of truth, with the philosophical question of how truth is determined, but with the problem of truth-tellers or truth-telling as a practical activity of self-improvement. To this end, the study traces the emergence and nature of post-truth politics in the U.S. and analyzes its relation to patterns of fascist propaganda and the (...) psychological appeal of authoritarian leaders through a psycho-social perspective. To counter the nature and ubiquity of post-truth politics, the unrelenting flow of lies, disinformation, and conspiracy theories disseminated by the far-right news and information ecosystem, the author argues that educators can help students recognize truth-tellers and become truth-tellers themselves by employing certain pedagogical strategies, informed by Foucault’s analysis of parrhesia, that can equip them to criticize and resist post-truth propaganda and demagogues. (shrink)

The author examines the relation between Michel Foucault's corpus and Freudian psychoanalysis. He argues that Foucault had a complex and changing relationship to psychoanalysis for two primary reasons: his own psychopathology, personal experience, and expressed desire, and due to an ineluctable contradiction at the heart of psychoanalysis itself. The author examines the history of Foucault's personal and scholarly interest in psychology and psychiatry, tracing the emergence, development, and shift in his thought and work. He then argues that Foucault's critique of (...) psychoanalysis can be extended to the constitution of the Western educated subject, and that Foucault ultimately resolved his personal dilemma in relation to psychoanalysis by rejecting the ‘will to knowledge’ and refusing the notion of a stable and fixed identity. (shrink)

In this essay, John Ambrosio examines the role of ascetic writing practices in Michel Foucault’s conception of ethical self‐formation. Ambrosio argues for an interpretation of Foucault’s later writings as representative of both an extension, and a dramatic break, from his previous writings — from demolishing the subject to embracing the notion of an autonomous and reflexive subject. Ambrosio further contends that Foucault’s notion of ethical self‐formation cannot be divorced from his genealogical method, and that his primary preoccupation near the end (...) of his life was to counterbalance his strong notion of a disciplinary society with the recognition of a subject able to make ethical choices and thus to transform itself. Finally, Ambrosio examines the implications of this for educators and argues that Foucault’s conception of ethical self‐formation through ascetic writing practices provides a powerful tool for teachers who seek to improve and transform their pedagogy. (shrink)