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Политические импликации философской парресии в поздних лекциях Мишеля Фуко: генеалогия критики и реальность философии
The concept of parrhesia (free, true and courageous speech) is central to Michel Foucault’s last lecture courses. In this “late” period of his life, French philosopher turned to ancient and early Christian sources and attempted to construct extensive genealogies of the two phenomena that played a crucial role in Western history: the genealogy of subjectivity and the genealogy of the “critical tradition” in philosophy. In order to construct the latter, throughout “The Government of Self and Others” (1982-1983), Foucault closely engaged with the texts of Plato, which he deemed foundational for the philosophical practice of veridiction in the West. Platonic paradigm presents philosophy with a number of fundamental aims, the main of which is the task of constantly testing its reality and its seriousness — i.e., testing the words of philosophy (its logos) through its deeds and practices (its ergon). Foucault postulates that in contemporary circumstances this test obliges philosophy to hold a certain attitude towards politics and power, an attitude which presupposes the rejection of direct participation in political affairs, the constant criticism of our faults and misconceptions, as well as the search for ways in which we (as subjects) are able to change ourselves and overcome the limits of our subjectivity. In this article, we attempt to (1) highlight the genealogical significance of Foucault’s concept of parrhesia and its relationship to modern philosophy; (2) present a classification of parrhesia (based on Foucault’s lectures) that allows to distinguish two dimensions in this phenomenon—political and philosophical; (3) review and assess the Platonic philosophical parrhesia by turning to the problem of its complex relationship with politics which finds its highest point when the “reality of philosophy” is being tested.