Thinking the social in Zarathustra's shadow: Foucault, Butler, Buber, and the question of freedom

• Main Author: Nichols, Christopher Lawrence
• Other Authors: Vahabzadeh, Peyman
• Language: English; en
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Social Theory; Foucault; Butler; Buber; Freedom; Nietzsche; modernity; UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2984

I seek to reflect on the question of freedom in modern social thought, drawing primarily from the works of Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Martin Buber. These three theorists situate the question of freedom in a post-Nietzschean vector of inquiry, within certain claims with regard to power, the modern self, and the ethical imperatives incumbent upon the human actor. I work through various inflections of freedom present in modern social thought, including conceptualizations of 'limit-experience', 'care of the self', and those suggested by a relational ontology of the subject. I bring Foucault, Butler and Buber into dialogue with one another, to both make a case for the continued importance of the question of freedom today, as well as contribute to its ongoing problematic.