O cuidado de si e a constituição do sujeito em Foucault

Abstract

This paper shows the relationship between care of the self with the formation of the subject, based primarily on the ideas of Michel Foucault (1926-1984). It exposes some contributions of this author’s thoughts in relation to the current educational process. Foucault offers instruments of analysis that inspire historical, sociological and philosophical approaches, interlaced with the educational theme, which embraces concepts such as freedom, punishment, power, knowledge, autonomy, among others. Starting from the principle that the subject is under constant transformation or, yet, that one is always constituting oneself as a subject, whereas that constitution takes place particularly in the schooling period, the theme of care of the self leads to questioning the educational process as for the formation of the individual’s autonomy. At the light of bibliographic research this thesis is based on the analysis of The History of Sexuality and Hermeneutics of the Subject. The study is organized in three chapters. In the first chapter, the historical bases of the care of the self are analyzed according to The Will to Knowledge and The Use of Pleasure, under the perspective of investigating on the constitution of the subject. As for the second chapter, it is based on the third volume of The History of Sexuality: The Care of the Self and on the Hermeneutics of the Subject, contemplating a reflection on the care of the self in the history of sexuality, returning to the practices of the care for the self in Ancient History, under the optics of Foucault. The third chapter deals with how Foucault’s ideas contribute for the analysis of themes related to education, concerning the constitution of the subject, with a prime focus on schooling phase. It shows that attitudes fomenting care for the self, which aim at the interweaving of care practices with acquisition of knowledge, enable the constitution of an autonomous subject, seeking practices of freedom.