''The Hermeneutics of the Subject'' is a lecture course originally given by the French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

in the years 1981–1982. The course details Foucault's elaboration of such concepts as "practices of the self" and the " care of the self", as manifested in what Foucault refers to as their "golden age" in

Hellenistic Greece Hellenistic Greece is the historical period of the country following Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek Achaean League heartlands by the Roman Republic. This culminated ...

and early

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Foucault argues that this period put much more emphasis on taking ''care'' of oneself (''prendre soin de soi-même'') than knowing oneself, whereas the converse is true today. ''The Hermeneutics of the Subject'' has been influential in terms of understanding the late Foucault's "ethical turn", and has increasingly been attracting more general philosophical attention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermeneutics of the Subject, The Philosophy lectures Collège de France Works by Michel Foucault