Thinking Beyond the East-West Divide: Foucault, Patocka, and the Care of the Self

Abstract

The article examines the works of philosopher Jan Patocka in relation to Michel Foucault's works about the transformation of the self and its link to politics. The first thing Foucault and Patocka shared concerning their conduct of research was that it was personal. But, second, this does not mean opting for narrow professional research. Distance from current debates does not necessarily lead to distance from the concerns of the present. Access to its heart for Foucault and Patocka was provided, paradoxically, by the pursuit and then transcendence of two perspectives that seem opposite to an investigation seriously concerned with the social and political issues of the day: the pursuit of a project based on personal experience through lonely, isolated investigation and then transcending both limitations.