The Truthful Self: Subjectivity, Truth, and Hermeneutics in Dialogue with Michel Foucault

In the wake of the hermeneutical turn in Continental philosophy, the question of the interpretive agent has become a central feature in most discussions on hermeneutics. While schools of thought differ significantly in how they position themselves vis-à-vis the subjectivist-objectivist axis, few would deny that the delineation of the interpretive task must attend to the embodied character of human cognition. Taking such a broader framework as a starting point, I will tackle a specific aspect of this problematic by examining Foucault’s conception of subjectivity and truth as it relates to issues of epistemology, moral responsibility, and askēsis. As I will argue, Foucault’s “art of living” persuasively highlights the background or “unthought” aspects of hermeneutics. My particular approach will be to connect Foucault’s brand of virtue epistemology with a broadly post-Heideggerian conception of engaged agency, and in so doing
spotlight some assumptions as to what “having truth” or “arriving at it” might mean in the context of hermeneutical practice and being.