Technē without Archē: Foucault’s Last Decade

Abstract

In this paper I use the concept of technē to argue that Foucault’s last decade is a unified program of research, offering a new interpretation of freedom in his later work. Whereas much of the existing scholarship treats Foucault’s political philosophy as distinct from his late ethical explorations of Ancient Greek philosophy, I argued that his critiques of modern political institutions and his studies of ancient ethical ‘technologies of the self’ represent a continuous interrogation of, and response to, the Platonic conception of political governance as both soulcraft (technē) and a form of ruling (archē). In contrast to interpretations that dismiss Foucault's late conception of freedom as mere lifestyle choices, I argue that it is best understood as a ‘technē without archē’—a critical practice of shaping one’s subjectivity that resists being constrained by the existing political reality.