Michel Foucault et le christianisme

Overview & Synopsis

From ancient rites to modern confession, Christianity involved – for Foucault – a constant questioning prompted by our present reality: what influence has this religion had in our lives, in how we conduct ourselves, in how we come to know our desire, in seeking our salvation? Published in 2011, Michel Foucault and Christianity is to this day the only critical synthesis of all of Foucault’s readings of Christianity, from his early work History of Madness (1961) to his last 1984 interviews. This brand-new edition integrates into its analyses the previously unpublished Confessions of the Flesh (2021), and through first-hand consultation of Foucault’s archives, Philippe Chevallier retraces the long, complex, and hitherto unknown editorial odyssey of Confessions of the Flesh (1976-1984). Rejecting hasty conclusions, this journey seizes the logic of a research Foucault intended to be as much historical as philosophical. Far from caricaturing Christianity as ascetic and intransigent, Foucault sees emerge in Christian texts and practices a vital recognition of our precarious relationship with truth. “Philippe Chevallier’s major survey offers us the most informed and complete picture of the new terrain available to us. Everyone interested in Foucault should have access to it.” (Colin Gordon, Foucault News)