Adam R . North

This thesis is a reconstruction of the Foucauldian genealogy of parrhēsía and an analysis of its contemporary significance. It is composed of three chapters, the first two being critical reconstructions of the genealogical analysis of truth-telling, provided by Michel Foucault throughout his late lecture series at Berkeley and the Collège de France, and the third chapter reveals the contemporary significance of the discoveries found in the previous chapters. I argue that Foucault overlooked the importance of rhetoric within his genealogy and drew an inordinate dichotomy between rhetoric and parrhēsía. I suggest that rhetoric plays a vital role in the performance of parrhēsía, whereas flattery is opposed to truth-telling. The first chapter engages with the meaning of parrhēsía in Greek Antiquity and I discuss the relationship between the three forms of parrhēsía that emerge: the personal, political, and philosophical. The second chapter probes the development of truth-telling within Christianity, in which I consider truth-telling in the New Testament and the institutionalisation of what Foucault terms, “a regime of truth”. Foucault identified two factors that contribute to the Christian regime of truth, “the regime of faith” and the “regime of confession”, which I elucidate. The third chapter examines how Foucault connects the Christian regime of truth with modern governments, or what he terms, the “new pastorate”, who control using discourses of governmentality and biopolitics. I investigate how the Internet disrupted the monopolisation of truth and explore the concept of “post-truth”. I argue that the term “alternative-truths” better captures the contemporary situation because access to the truth has become far more accessible thanks to the Internet. I present the example of Edward Snowden to illustrate the parallels between contemporary whistleblowing and Greek parrhēsía and discuss how the Internet enables parrhēsíastes to continue to tell the truth from exile. Thus, I conclude with the claim that the Internet enables truth-tellers to overcome limitations that hindered parrhēsíastes from the past.

This thesis explores Nietzsche’s genealogical investigation into the concept of the “I” and his tracing of its history back to the body. Nietzsche’s method of tracing assumed truths has become influential within contemporary philosophy, yet there has not been a sufficient discourse regarding his investigation into the “I” and body.  This thesis suggests that there has been little critical analysis of the late notebooks within Nietzsche scholarship which has contributed to an underdevelopment of the important ideas contained within them. Thus, this thesis presents a close reading of Nietzsche’s unpublished notebooks in order to provide the reader with an understanding of the genealogical investigation of the “I”. This paper substantiates the hypothesis that Nietzsche’s investigation revealed that the body is a far richer phenomenon than the “I”. To achieve this the thesis reveals the method Nietzsche employed to question assumed truths, such as the “I”, and how this led him to the body. The evidence gathered from this research suggests that Nietzsche believed that the body should become the focus of future scientific research. Furthermore, the thesis argues that importance of the will to power has been overstated and it should not be considered the conclusion to his investigations.

This paper presents the hypothesis that the increased use of Nudge theory is symptomatic of a privation of international education. In order to perform this task, the paper will implement the method of intertextual analysis between Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s 2008 work, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Nudge) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 2015 publication, Rethinking Education: Towards a global common good? Using this method, I aim to demonstrate that the increasing global interest in education appears to have arisen following the success of Nudge theory.

This paper conducts a comparative dispositif analysis of Joseph Conrad’s 1902 novella 'Heart of Darkness' and James Gray’s 2019 cinematic adaptation 'Ad Astra', in order to assess whether the imperial legacy implicit within the novella has continued into the contemporary world.

This paper performs a 'concentric dispositif analysis' on Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' in order to demonstrate how this new method can be successfully implemented for further research. The paper explores the theological content within the film and analyses the 'layers' that compose the manifestation.

This review Cynical Theories is a rigorous critique of postmodernism, particularly aimed at the most active scholarly movements that employ postmodernist methods. Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay provide a satisfactory summary of the methods that postmodern movements implement to achieve their objectives. However, what the authors repeatedly overlook and fail to properly engage with is the objectives of these movements. The most egregious sections in this regard are those on "Feminisms and Gender Studies" and "Disability and Fat Studies" which critique the methods utilised by scholars in these fields but lacks dialogue regarding the purpose of their usage and consideration as to how these theories might be of benefit to society.