The Care of the Self
The Care of the Self is the third volume of Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality, examining how, in the first two centuries CE, Greco‑Roman philosophical and medical traditions reshaped sexual ethics and subjectivity around practices of self-care. Foucault argues that early Imperial moralists did not primarily codify law‑like prohibitions but elaborated detailed “arts of existence,” prescribing ways to govern desires, marriage, and pleasures as part of a broader askēsis of the self. Through close readings of authors such as Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, Plutarch, Seneca and various medical writers, he shows that sexual conduct was integrated into a wider ethical project: the formation of a free, lucid, and well‑governed subject. This volume completes Foucault’s shift from a repressive hypothesis about sexuality to an analytics of how subjects are constituted through historically specific practices of power, truth and self‑relation, and it lays the groundwork for his late work on ethics as “care of the self” and modes of subjectivation.
At a Glance
- Author
- Michel Foucault
- Composed
- 1979–1984
- Language
- French
- Status
- original survives
- •In the first centuries CE, Greco‑Roman ethics moved from a focus on codified rules of sexual behavior to a broader practice of ‘care of the self’ (epimeleia heautou), where governing pleasures is one dimension of cultivating a free and rational subject.
- •Sexual ethics in antiquity is best understood not as a moral code of interdictions but as an ‘aesthetics of existence’—a set of prescriptions, exercises and styles of living through which individuals fashion themselves according to ideals of moderation, freedom and self‑mastery.
- •The ancient notion of aphrodisia (sexual pleasures) is embedded within a larger economy of diet, regimen, marriage and household management; thus sexuality is part of a general art of conducting one’s life rather than a distinct moral domain.
- •Practices of self‑examination, askēsis, and guidance by others (such as philosophical direction and medical advice) are central techniques of subjectivation: they form individuals who relate to themselves as ethical subjects responsible for the truth of their conduct.
- •The transformation from classical Greek ethics to Imperial Roman and early Christian configurations of selfhood shows that the history of sexuality is fundamentally a history of how subjects are made through shifting relations among power, discourse, and techniques of self‑care.
The Care of the Self has become a central text for understanding Foucault’s late thought and his conception of ethics as a set of practices rather than a system of rules. Historically, it helped to shift debates about sexuality away from the repressive hypothesis and toward analyses of how subjects are formed through historically specific techniques of self‑care, confession, and regulation of pleasures. The book is foundational for contemporary discussions of ‘technologies of the self,’ governmentality, and the politics of lifestyle and identity. It influenced feminist theory, queer theory, and classical studies by challenging simple narratives of sexual liberation or repression and by showing the complexity of ancient sexual ethics. More broadly, it contributed to the revival of interest in Hellenistic and Roman philosophy as a living art of existence, not merely a doctrinal system.
1. Introduction
The Care of the Self (Le souci de soi), the third volume of Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality, investigates how practices of self‑cultivation shaped sexual ethics in the first two centuries CE. Rather than treating sexuality as a separate domain governed by prohibitions, Foucault examines how Greco‑Roman authors folded sexual conduct into a broader “culture of the self” centered on vigilance, discipline, and self‑knowledge.
Foucault situates this volume as a continuation and partial reorientation of the project outlined in volume 1 (The Will to Knowledge) and pursued in volume 2 (The Use of Pleasure). Whereas the first volume analyzed modern dispositifs of sexuality (medicine, psychiatry, confession), and the second examined classical Greek problematizations of aphrodisia, volume 3 turns to the early Imperial period to show how ethical subjectivity is fashioned through care of the self (souci de soi, epimeleia heautou).
The work focuses on philosophical, medical, and moral writings addressed primarily to free male citizens, tracing how they were urged to govern their bodies, desires, and marital relations as part of an art of existence. Foucault presents these practices as historically specific technologies of the self, through which individuals relate to themselves as ethical subjects responsible for the truth of their conduct.
2. Historical and Intellectual Context
2.1 Position within Foucault’s Oeuvre
The Care of the Self belongs to Foucault’s late period, marked by a shift from disciplinary power and institutions to subjectivity, ethics, and “technologies of the self.” It continues the History of Sexuality while intersecting with his Collège de France lectures on governmentality, parrhesia (frank speech), and ancient philosophy.
| Earlier Focus (1960s–early 1970s) | Later Focus (late 1970s–1984) |
|---|---|
| Archaeology of discourse | Genealogy of subjectivity |
| Institutions (clinic, prison) | Practices of self‑formation |
| Power/knowledge | Ethics, freedom, and self‑relation |
2.2 Ancient Context Studied
Foucault examines the first two centuries CE, often called the early Roman Empire or High Empire, a period of flourishing Stoic, Platonist, and medical literature. Moralists such as Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, Plutarch and Galen addressed an elite readership concerned with health, household management, and civic responsibility. Proponents of this focus argue that it illuminates how epimeleia heautou became a pervasive ethical injunction.
Some historians contend that Foucault’s use of these texts risks overrepresenting the perspectives of educated, male elites. Others maintain that this focus is methodologically consistent with his aim: to trace how normative models of the ethical subject were codified.
2.3 Relation to Contemporary Debates
Intellectually, the book intervenes in:
- Psychoanalytic and liberationist accounts of sexuality, challenging linear stories of repression and emancipation.
- Moral philosophy, by shifting attention from rule‑based systems to practices of self‑formation.
- Classical studies, contributing to a renewed interest in Hellenistic and Roman ethics as ways of life.
Interpretive debates center on whether Foucault’s move toward ancient ethics represents a continuity with, or a departure from, his earlier analyses of power.
3. Author, Composition, and Publication
3.1 Foucault as Author
Michel Foucault (1926–1984), a French philosopher and historian of systems of thought, wrote The Care of the Self in the final phase of his career. By this time he had been Professor at the Collège de France for over a decade and had developed influential analyses of madness, medicine, punishment, and sexuality.
3.2 Composition and Lecture Background
The volume was composed between roughly 1979 and 1984 and is closely connected to Foucault’s Collège de France courses, particularly those on “The Government of the Living,” “Subjectivity and Truth,” and “The Hermeneutics of the Subject.” Scholars generally agree that themes tested in these lectures—such as askēsis, confession, and spiritual direction—inform the final form of the book, though the lectures are broader in scope (including early Christianity) than this volume.
| Phase | Related Materials |
|---|---|
| 1976–1978 | Reframing of History of Sexuality project |
| 1979–1982 | Lectures on ancient philosophy and self‑care |
| 1982–1984 | Writing and final revision of volume 3 |
3.3 Publication Circumstances
Le souci de soi was published in June 1984 by Gallimard in the “Bibliothèque des Histoires” series, only weeks before Foucault’s death (25 June 1984). It followed The Use of Pleasure (1984) and was intended as part of a multi‑volume continuation of the History of Sexuality; projected further volumes on early Christianity remained unwritten or unpublished as books.
The standard French edition is:
Michel Foucault, Histoire de la sexualité, III: Le souci de soi, ed. François Ewald, Alessandro Fontana, Frédéric Gros, Paris: Gallimard, 1984.
The widely used English translation by Robert Hurley appeared in 1986 (Pantheon; later Penguin/Vintage), making the work accessible to a broader scholarly audience.
4. Structure and Organization of the Work
Foucault organizes The Care of the Self into an Introduction followed by three main parts, each examining a distinct aspect of ancient sexual ethics within a broader culture of the self.
| Section | Focus |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Reorientation of the project; definition of problem |
| Part I: Culture of the Self | Generalization of souci de soi in early Empire |
| Part II: Conjugality | Marriage and moralization of sexual pleasures |
| Part III: Austerity/Askēsis | Philosophical self‑discipline and sexual conduct |
4.1 Introduction
The Introduction outlines the methodological move from juridico‑legal or religious frameworks of sexuality to ethical practices and explains why the early Imperial period is treated as a pivotal moment in the history of subjectivation.
4.2 Part I: The Formation of a Culture of the Self
Part I surveys philosophical and medical texts to show how care of the self becomes a general imperative addressed to free men. It treats domains such as diet, regimen, passions, and sexuality as interconnected fields in which self‑government is exercised.
4.3 Part II: Conjugality and the Moralization of Pleasures
Part II focuses on shifting ideals of marriage and household life, analyzing prescriptions about choice of spouse, conjugal duties, and the timing and purposes of intercourse. It foregrounds how conjugal relations become a primary site for ethical work on oneself.
4.4 Part III: Austerity, Desire, and Philosophical Askēsis
Part III explores more explicitly philosophical discourses (especially Stoic) that advocate sexual austerity as part of a comprehensive regimen of askēsis. It details exercises of self‑examination and rational mastery that reconfigure desires and pleasures.
5. Central Arguments and Key Concepts
5.1 Main Theses
Foucault advances several linked claims about ancient sexual ethics:
- In the first two centuries CE, sexual conduct is integrated into a broader “culture of the self”, rather than governed by a separate moral code.
- Ethical reflection centers on the subject’s relation to self—how one monitors and shapes desires—more than on transgression of universal laws.
- Sexuality is configured as part of an “aesthetics of existence,” where individuals are invited to fashion a life according to ideals of moderation, freedom, and self‑mastery.
Proponents of this reading emphasize how Foucault highlights practices over doctrines; critics suggest that this framing may understate the role of normative constraints and social hierarchies.
5.2 Key Concepts
| Concept | Role in the Argument |
|---|---|
| Souci de soi | General imperative of self‑attention; organizing theme of late ancient ethics. |
| Epimeleia heautou | Greek term for care of oneself; source for Foucault’s notion of a culture of the self. |
| Aphrodisia | Sexual acts/pleasures; treated as one domain within regimen, health, and household order. |
| Askēsis | Exercises of body and mind for transforming desires and forming an ethical subject. |
| Technologies of the self | Practices (self‑examination, self‑writing, guidance) through which subjects are constituted. |
Foucault argues that these concepts illustrate a form of ethics where subjects actively work on themselves rather than simply obeying external rules. Alternative interpretations question whether this emphasis risks idealizing elite self‑cultivation or underplaying its entanglement with power relations such as gender and status.
A frequently cited formulation captures the linkage between ethics and self‑formation:
Ethics is “the considered form that freedom takes when it is informed by reflection.”
— Foucault, often paraphrased from late interviews and consistent with themes of The Care of the Self
6. Legacy and Historical Significance
6.1 Influence on Later Scholarship
The Care of the Self has become a central reference for debates on ethics, subjectivity, and sexuality. It significantly shaped:
- Ethics and political theory, by foregrounding practices of self‑formation and introducing the idea of “aesthetics of existence.”
- Feminist and queer theory, which have both drawn on and criticized Foucault’s account in rethinking sexual norms and identities.
- Classical studies, contributing to a renewed interest in Hellenistic and Roman philosophy as lived practices.
| Field | Typical Use of the Work |
|---|---|
| Philosophy | Critiques of rule‑based ethics; discussions of self‑constitution |
| Gender/Queer Studies | Analyses of normalization and alternative sexual subjectivities |
| History/Classics | Studies of ancient moralists, regimen, and household ethics |
6.2 Role in Interpreting “Late Foucault”
The volume is widely treated as emblematic of the “late Foucault.” Some commentators argue that it marks a continuity with earlier genealogies of power, now extended to techniques of self; others see a shift toward a more affirmative view of freedom and ethics.
6.3 Critical Assessments
Key lines of criticism include:
- The reliance on elite male texts, which some classicists and feminists view as narrowing the social scope of the analysis.
- Concerns that focusing on technologies of the self may underemphasize coercive institutions and material conditions.
- Debates over whether the evolution of the History of Sexuality volumes undermines the coherence of the original project.
Despite these disputes, The Care of the Self is widely regarded as historically significant for redirecting attention from sexuality as repression to sexuality as a field in which subjects are made and remade through specific practices of self‑care.
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title = {the-care-of-the-self},
author = {Philopedia},
year = {2025},
url = {https://philopedia.com/works/the-care-of-the-self/},
urldate = {December 11, 2025}
}