Abstract

This thesis evaluates Sartre's theories about social relations and authentic political community in the light of Foucault's insights about power, freedom, and subjectivity. ;For Sartre, individual authenticity depends upon an ethics that liberates humans from living in 'bad faith,' by means of a critical reflection about the nature of human reality. The goal of this ethics is the development of individuals who choose their own freedom and that of others as their highest value. ;Even though Sartre's early account of relations with others is negative, his later study of groups provides a theoretical foundation for authentic existence, where individuals engage in genuinely reciprocal, positive social relations. ;A comparison of Sartre's and Foucault's ideas about the self and an exposition of Foucault's treatment of power, shows that a state of authenticity can emerge only from the kind of critical reflection and social dialogue about power that Foucault espouses.