Pushing against an open door : Agamben on Hadot and Foucault

Journal article


Sharpe, Matthew J. and Stettler, Matteo J.. (2022). Pushing against an open door : Agamben on Hadot and Foucault. Classical Receptions Journal. 14(1), pp. 120-139. https://doi.org/10.1093/crj/clab007
AuthorsSharpe, Matthew J. and Stettler, Matteo J.
Abstract

This article provides a rejoinder to Giorgio Agamben’s interpretation of the Hadot-Foucault dialogue, which appeared in the pivotal ‘Intermezzo’ of The Use of Bodies. In ‘Pushing against the open door’ section, we provide a close reading of Agamben’s claims about Hadot’s alleged misreadings of Foucault on the ancients and on subjectivity more widely. We demonstrate how, far from rebutting Hadot, these claims end up confirming the latter’s positions on Foucault malgré Agamben. In ‘Wisdom, the cosmic dimension, and the “objectivist-exercisant” self’ section, we draw on classicist Christopher Gill’s notion of the ‘objectivist-participant’ self in Greco-Roman Antiquity, to argue that the deepest stakes of the debate between Foucault and Hadot do not implicate Hadot’s incompetence, as Agamben suggests. They concern Foucault’s unease, as well as Agamben’s misunderstanding, of the objective and participative dimensions of ancient conceptions of selfhood. In ‘The ghosts of christianities past’ section, we contest the recurrent tendency of commentators, like Agamben, to assume latent carry-overs of Hadot’s early religiosity in his later works on Greek and Roman philosophy and spiritual exercises as reflecting the long shadow of Christianity in postmodern thought.

Year2022
JournalClassical Receptions Journal
Journal citation14 (1), pp. 120-139
PublisherOxford University Press
ISSN1759-5134
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/crj/clab007
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85128574214
Page range120-139
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online14 Jun 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited14 Nov 2023
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8zz01/pushing-against-an-open-door-agamben-on-hadot-and-foucault

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 0
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Reclaiming the differences : Three neglected marxian theories of fascism in Lukács, Marcuse, and Bloch
Sharpe, Matthew and King, Matthew. (2023). Reclaiming the differences : Three neglected marxian theories of fascism in Lukács, Marcuse, and Bloch. Socialism and Democracy. pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854300.2023.2201803
Spiritual exercises and the question of religion in the work of Pierre Hadot
Sharpe, Matthew. (2023). Spiritual exercises and the question of religion in the work of Pierre Hadot. Religions. 14(8), p. Article 998. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14080998
Philosophy as a way of life, spiritual exercises, and palliative care
Sharpe, Matt and Nolan, Robert P.. (2023). Philosophy as a way of life, spiritual exercises, and palliative care. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 29(7), pp. 1171-1179. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13902
A process-based approach to health-related quality of life as a “way of living”
Nolan, R. P. and Sharpe, M. J.. (2023). A process-based approach to health-related quality of life as a “way of living”. Quality of Life Research. 32(9), pp. 2425-2434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-023-03385-2
Of Cartesianism and spiritual exercises : Reading Descartes through Hadot, and Hadot through Descartes
Stettler, Matteo J. and Sharpe, Matthew. (2022). Of Cartesianism and spiritual exercises : Reading Descartes through Hadot, and Hadot through Descartes. Philosophy Today. 66(3), pp. 471-489. https://doi.org/10.5840/philtoday2022318445
Unifying, comparative, critical and metacritical : Domenico Losurdo’s Nietzsche as aristocratic rebel
Sharpe, Matthew. (2022). Unifying, comparative, critical and metacritical : Domenico Losurdo’s Nietzsche as aristocratic rebel. Critical Horizons. 23(2), pp. 284-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2022.2100978
Wittgenstein’s Unglauben : Jacques Lacan and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Turner, Kirk and Sharpe, Matthew. (2022). Wittgenstein’s Unglauben : Jacques Lacan and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society. 27(2-3), pp. 201-217. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-022-00281-5
Giving the angel the benefit of law : Natural law and human dignity in Franz Neumann and Ernst Bloch
Sharpe, Matthew. (2022). Giving the angel the benefit of law : Natural law and human dignity in Franz Neumann and Ernst Bloch. Critical Research on Religion. 10(3), pp. 351-356. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503032221124559
Philosophy as a way of life : History, dimensions, directions
Sharpe, Matthew and Ure, Michael. (2021). Philosophy as a way of life : History, dimensions, directions Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350102170
A good person for a crisis? On the wisdom of the stoic sage (in himself & for us)
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). A good person for a crisis? On the wisdom of the stoic sage (in himself & for us). Eidos : A journal for philosophy of culture. 5(1), pp. 32-49. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2021.0003
Solitaire/Solidaire : Camus, contemplation, and the vita mixta
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). Solitaire/Solidaire : Camus, contemplation, and the vita mixta. Telos. 2021(196), pp. 31-43. https://doi.org/10.3817/0921196031
A disturbance of vision on the Capitol : Philosophy and the Far-Right – Towards an interdisciplinary inquiry
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). A disturbance of vision on the Capitol : Philosophy and the Far-Right – Towards an interdisciplinary inquiry. Thesis Eleven. 163(1), pp. 5-28. https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136211012615
On politics, irony, and Plato’s Socrates as Derrida’s pharmakon
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). On politics, irony, and Plato’s Socrates as Derrida’s pharmakon. The Review of Politics. 83(2), pp. 153-173. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670520000984
Golden calf : Deleuze's Nietzsche in the time of Trump
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). Golden calf : Deleuze's Nietzsche in the time of Trump. Thesis Eleven. 163(1), pp. 71-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136211005990
Between too intellectualist and not intellectualist enough : Hadot’s spiritual exercises and Annas’ virtues as skills
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). Between too intellectualist and not intellectualist enough : Hadot’s spiritual exercises and Annas’ virtues as skills. The Journal of Value Inquiry. 55(2), pp. 269-287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-021-09815-z
Pierre Hadot, Albert Camus and the orphic view of nature
Sharpe, Matthew. (2021). Pierre Hadot, Albert Camus and the orphic view of nature. Continental Philosophy Review. 54(1), pp. 17-39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-020-09520-x
Drafted into a foreign war? On the very idea of ancient philosophy as a way of life
Sharpe, Matthew. (2020). Drafted into a foreign war? On the very idea of ancient philosophy as a way of life. Rhizomata. 8(2), pp. 183-217. https://doi.org/10.1515/rhiz-2020-0009
In the crosshairs of the fourfold : Critical thoughts on Aleksandr Dugin’s Heidegger
Sharpe, Matthew. (2020). In the crosshairs of the fourfold : Critical thoughts on Aleksandr Dugin’s Heidegger. Critical Horizons. 21(2), pp. 167-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2020.1759284
Killing the father, Parmenides : On Lacan’s anti-philosophy
Sharpe, Matthew. (2019). Killing the father, Parmenides : On Lacan’s anti-philosophy. Continental Philosophy Review. 52(1), pp. 51-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-015-9330-8
From Amy Allen to Abbé Raynal : Critical theory, enlightenment, and colonialism
Sharpe, Matthew. (2019). From Amy Allen to Abbé Raynal : Critical theory, enlightenment, and colonialism. Critical Horizons. 20(2), pp. 178-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2019.1596220
Home to men’s business and bosoms : Philosophy and rhetoric in Francis Bacon’s Essayes
Sharpe, Matthew. (2019). Home to men’s business and bosoms : Philosophy and rhetoric in Francis Bacon’s Essayes. British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 27(3), pp. 492-512. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2018.1506315
Rhetorical action in Rektoratsrede : Calling Heidegger’s Gefolgschaft
Sharpe, Matthew. (2018). Rhetorical action in Rektoratsrede : Calling Heidegger’s Gefolgschaft. Philosophy and Rhetoric. 51(2), pp. 176-201. https://doi.org/10.5325/philrhet.51.2.0176
Heidegger in 2018 : Editor-translator’s introduction
Sharpe, Matthew. (2018). Heidegger in 2018 : Editor-translator’s introduction. Critical Horizons. 19(4), pp. 271-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2018.1520503
On reading Heidegger—After the ‘Heidegger Case’?
Sharpe, Matthew. (2018). On reading Heidegger—After the ‘Heidegger Case’? Critical Horizons. 19(4), pp. 334-360. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2018.1520514
Towards a phenomenology of sagesse : Uncovering the unique philosophical problematic of Pierre Hadot
Sharpe, Matthew. (2018). Towards a phenomenology of sagesse : Uncovering the unique philosophical problematic of Pierre Hadot. Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities. 23(2), pp. 125-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2018.1451475
The topics transformed : Rethinking Francis Bacon’s prerogative instances
Sharpe, Matthew. (2018). The topics transformed : Rethinking Francis Bacon’s prerogative instances. Journal of the History of Philosophy. 56(3), pp. 429-454. https://doi.org/10.1353/hph.2018.0046
Bibliopolitics : The history of notation and the birth of the citational academic subject
Sharpe, Matthew and Turner, Kirk. (2018). Bibliopolitics : The history of notation and the birth of the citational academic subject. Foucault Studies. 25, pp. 146-174. https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v25i2.5578
Fearless? Peter Weir, the sage, and the fragility of goodness
Sharpe, Matthew. (2017). Fearless? Peter Weir, the sage, and the fragility of goodness. Philosophy and Literature. 41(1), pp. 136-157. https://doi.org/10.1353/phl.2017.0009