Wpływ władzy pastoralnej na kształtowanie się indywidualizmu w społeczeństwach zachodnich w świetle genealogii Michela Foucaulta
The Influence of Pastoral Power on the Formation of Western Individualism in the Light of Michel Foucault’s Genealogy

Summary/Abstract: This article presents an analysis of the influence of Christian pastoral power on the formation of individualism in Western societies. The point of reference is the concept of pastoral power put forward by Michel Foucault, who treated the power of the Catholic Church over believers as a specific rationale of ruling focused on the formation of individuals and communities. The study refers to Foucault’s genealogical method, which investigates the impact of power and knowledge on the historical development of contemporary philosophical and social ideas. This analysis shows Christianity to be predominantly an individualising religion influencing the process of shaping the human subject as an individual. Pastoral power, using subjectivation techniques such as introspection, examination of one’s conscience, confession, asceticism, self-control of one’s body and sexuality, and interpreting and reading the Bible, has contributed considerably to the formation of responsible, ethical, and self-disciplined individuals. Christian belief in free will and individually attributed sin or virtue has played a key role in the development of the contemporary concept of an individual who is de jure free and bears responsibility for his or her deeds. The article points to the important role of the Protestant Reformation, which contributed to the privatisation of religion and facilitated the process of individualisation in Western societies.

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