Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Fitzgerald, Keith
Area of Concentration
Political Science
Abstract
Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault, both relatively recent additions to political theory’s canon, often are thought of as inhabiting separate theoretical camps: civic republicanism and postmodernism, respectively. This thesis argues that these labels obscure significant overlaps between their thought and stifle the possibility of productive engagement. I seek to show, contrary to much of the secondary literature, that nothing in Arendt and Foucault’s basic positions on methodology, ontology, and normativity necessitate that we must a priori dismiss a reconciliation between the two thinkers. This thesis makes the case for the possibility of a Foucauldian politics of the public sphere and attempts to dislodge Arendt from interpretations which view her as a nostalgic, foundationalist thinker. When read against certain common interpretations, striking similarities emerge between Arendt and Foucault’s thought on freedom, which ought to be taken up in future work.
Recommended Citation
Conn, Zachary, "BRINGING ARENDT AND FOUCAULT TOGETHER: FREEDOM AS AN AESTHETIC PRACTICE" (2017). Theses & ETDs. 5327.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5327