%0 Journal Article %A Westerink, Herman %T Foucault and the problematics of the will in Cassian and Augustine %D 2023 %J Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte, %V 115 %N 1 %P 19-29 %@ 2352-1244 %R https://doi.org/10.5117/ANTW2023.1.004.WEST %K confession %K will %K Foucault %K Augustine %K Cassian %K self-practice %K libidinization %K obedience %I Amsterdam University Press, %X Abstract Foucault and the problematics of the will in Cassian and Augustine Although John Cassian and Augustine are contemporaries involved in debates on (free) will, sin and grace, Foucault in Confessions of the Flesh closely examines these two authors in different text parts without confronting their positions regarding their conceptualization of the libido and the problem of a sinful will. In this article Augustine’s and Cassian’s view of this problematics is elaborated as two positions in the same debate. It is argued that Foucault, reading Cassian as a monastic author introducing new forms of submission, confession and meticulous hermeneutics of the self, undervalues the act that the demand of mortification of the will through unconditional obedience can be seen as part of self-practices and exercises of the will. %U https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/ANTW2023.1.004.WEST