The History of Sexuality, Volume 1

Study Guide

Core Idea

The Role of the Confession in Modern Western Society

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Core Idea The Role of the Confession in Modern Western Society

Foucault asserts that the confession, once simply a Christian confession of sins of the flesh, has filled every aspect of our society. We are expected to divulge information not just to priests, but also to government agents, teachers, doctors, parents, etc. Confession has become so common that we no longer think of it as something extracted from us, but think of it rather as therapeutic or liberating, something we even pay to do. He also associates the rise of the confession with our modern concept of subjecthood: we have become an object of study, something worth talking about. Foucault is often highly selective about his facts. For instance, in discussing the turn in modern philosophy toward the subject, he ignores a great deal of analytic philosophy and pragmatism that has followed the opposite trend. He is also perhaps bending the facts a little when he asserts that confession as it exists in our society is unique to our society. He emphasizes the heroic epics of earlier ages, and their focus on deeds rather than subjectivity, but he also ignores a wealth of literature and poetry that does not follow the heroic vein.

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