FROM THE “ATHLETES OF TEMPERANCE” TO THE “VIRTUOUS HERO”, FROM KING TO SHEPHERD: FOUCAULT AND WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present in its most general terms Foucault’s analysis of Christianity, with the aim of pointing out what is unique about it. To do this, we will focus our attention on the four books published within the project of a History of sexuality, the first three volumes of which were published in 1976 and 1984, while the last volume only in 2018. This analysis, in turn, presupposes genealogy of the subject of desire, which we can consider as Foucault’s last research program. To this end, it is necessary to return to the comparison made repeatedly by Foucault between the Greek experience of aphrodisia, the Christian experience of the flesh and the modern experience of sexuality. This deviation will make it easier for us to understand the singularity of Christianity linked not to the repression of sexuality, but to a new form of governmentality, that of pastoral power, based on the “government of conduct”, within which the body and its pleasures assume a central place.

Keywords: Aphrodisia. Flesh. Sexuality. Governmentality. Pastoral Power.