Religion and Post-Secularism in Michel Foucault’s Herméneutique du Sujet

The question of post-secularism – that is, the status of the religious experience within modern individuals and modern society – is a prevalent one in contemporary philosophical discussion. In this project, I consider the insight of 20th century French philosopher Michel Foucault on this subject, in “L’Herméneutique du Sujet”, a recently published manuscript of Foucault’s lectures at the Collège de France. In this text, Foucault considers the history and experience of being an individual, or a subject. Through this inquiry, the author considers the many ways in which religious experience has framed such discourse – and as such, ways in which religion, despite the current post-secular context, is fundamentally constitutive of our lived experience. By using Foucault’s ideas, I plan to further explore the intricate relationship between religion and lived experience in the modern world.

Faculty Supervisor:

John Caruana

Student:

Henry Goury-Laffont

Partner:

Discipline:

Philosophy

Sector:

University:

Ryerson University

Program:

Globalink