Technologies of the Self in Michel Foucault's Late Philosophy: Ancient Roots and Contemporary Interpretations

This study elucidates Michel Foucault’s concept of “technologies of the self” as developed in his late works, with particular emphasis on its ancient Greek and Roman antecedents. It examines how these practices historically served as modes of ethical self-formation and how they challenge contemporary forms of subjectivation under neoliberal governance. Drawing on Foucault’s analyses in The History of Sexuality, Volume III (The Care of the Self) and his Collège de France lectures, the article traces the genealogy of self-practices (askēsis, epimeleia heautou) as both philosophical exercises and political acts. The originality of the study lies in its systematic juxtaposition of Foucault’s genealogical approach with Slavoj Žižek’s Lacanian-Marxist critique of ideology, desire, and symbolic constraints. Integrating recent scholarship, the article demonstrates the continuing relevance—and the dangers—of such practices in neoliberal societies. It concludes that ancient techniques of the self foreground the possibility of ethical autonomy beyond external normativity while simultaneously revealing the persistent risk of their capture by unconscious libidinal investments and capitalist imperatives. Keywords: Michel Foucault, technologies of the self, care of the self, ancient philosophy, subjectivation, autonomy, neoliberalism, Slavoj Žižek, ideology, enjoyment