Max Weber and Michel Foucault, convergences on an ontology of the present: the problem of rationality

Abstract

Continuing an investigation into the similarities between the thoughts of Max Weber and Michel Foucault around the question of modernity, beginning stage of research conducted at the École Normale Supérieure de Paris in 2009, we intend to investigate more precisely the problem of political rationality from the perspectives of the two thinkers. For Max Weber, we intend to explore the issue of rationalization of spheres of life, in order to consider the problem of the actions of individuals within the ordered areas in which social life takes place. For Michel Foucault, we intend to study further the political governmentality that, allowing the philosopher to develop a macro view within his analytic of power, gives rise to an intriguing investigation into historical-rational forms of the government of men, such as, the reason of State, the liberalism and the contemporary neo-liberal programs. It is, therefore, engage in dialogue two separate schemes of intelligibility of modern political rationality that, beyond their differences, converge on the common ground of a critical ontology of the present. (AU)