Parrhesia as therapy in ‘fragile times’

Abstract

This article approaches the question of the relation between parrhesia (truth-telling or truth-speaking) and (self-)empowerment from the perspective of Michel Foucault’s resurrection of the ancient Greek concept and practice by that name. This is done to be able to negotiate the present global terrain where there appears to be a dearth of such truth-telling, and an abundance of obfuscation, judging by the available evidence. A distinction is made between ‘truth’ and ‘truth-speaking’, to highlight the fact that parrhesia is not a theory of truth, before a negotiation of Foucault’s text—interspersed with references to other texts and practices—is embarked upon. Foucault took pains to distinguish parrhesia as truth-speaking from instances where one is indeed speaking the truth to an audience or a friend, such as where a lecturer in linguistics is telling her students the truth about linguistic theories. By contrast, parrhesia does not merely instantiate speaking the truth in such a safe, innocuous manner; it involves speaking truth under circumstances where courage in the face of danger is involved—either because one is telling a valued friend the barefaced truth about what is required from them to rescue your mutual friendship (which does not concern me here), or because you are speaking the truth in public and to powerful others, under dangerous circumstances where you take a significant risk by doing so. This, as well as the manifestation of evil, today, is elaborated on before the question is posed: what, if any, therapeutic consequences does such risky truth-telling have for the speaker, and by implication also for the listener(s)? This is pursued in light of Foucault’s observation, that the truth-teller or parrhesiastes takes up a specific relationship to herself—one which is a manifestation of her refusal to be false to herself. This, it is argued, has demonstrable ethical and therapeutic value for the truth-speaker as well as, potentially, for at least some of those who witness the act of truth-telling. In the final analysis it is a practice that cultivates a sense of autonomy and community during ‘fragile times’, such as the present.