In 1982 Michel Foucault concluded his lectures at the Collè\;ge de France by reflecting on our contemporary fascination with the Delphic maxim &ldquo\;Know thyself&rdquo\; (gnô\;thi seauton). Thus\, he invited his audience to &ldquo\;remember that the rule that one should know oneself was regularly combined with the theme of care of the self&rdquo\; (2005\, p.491). The widespread proliferation of public discourse on care over the past forty years exhibits a newfound contemporary fascination with care\, especially self-care\, worth problematizing.
\nIn this conference\, we aim to address the relational dimension of self-care\, taking the ancient care of the self (epimeleia heautou\, cura sui) as a point of departure for engaging contemporary care ethics in critical discussion of self-care from a labor perspective. The consolidation of contemporary care ethics has seen the simultaneous rising popularity of self-care literature that mobilizes care while dismissing relational interdependence &ndash\; one of the central tenets of care ethics (Gilligan\, 1982\; Noddings\, 1984\; Kittay &\; Meyers\, 1987). This dismissal needs explanation. In this respect\, the ancient care of the self offers a unique analytical opportunity because it amounts to a version of care ethics that similarly seems to dismiss the relationality and interdependence that go into care\, especially if understood from a labor perspective. Whereas ancient &ldquo\;freemen&rdquo\; committed to the theorization and practice of the care of the self\, it was enslaved and women&rsquo\;s domestic labor that allowed for the care for the soul (epimeleia tê\;s psuchê\;s in Plato&rsquo\;s terms)\, which distinguished &ldquo\;freemen&rdquo\; from a bunch of &ldquo\;careless&rdquo\; others: enslaved people\, women\, foreigners (barbarians)\, children\, and animals. This conference asks if similar logics of othering run within contemporary self-care.
\nTellingly\, Plutarch relates that Anaxandridas\, the Spartan king\, faced with the question as to why the Helots (forced laborers) tended to the fields\, rather than the Spartans themselves\, answered that &ldquo\;we acquired these lands not to take care [epimeloumenoi] of them\, but of ourselves [autô\;n]&rdquo\; (Apophthegmata. 10.3). This helps illuminate the usually unacknowledged labor that upholds self-care\, and raises questions concerning the scope of ancient and contemporary notions of self-care: namely\, are these notions commensurable? While the ancient care of the self rested on exploitative relations\, contemporary self-care rather seems to help the exploited further endure exploitation. Also\, if self-care indeed depends on the concealed care labor of others\, can we really conceive of a care that ends at the limits of the self? Should we not extend our versions of self-care to account for this labor? And would this extended version of self-care entail cultivating a selfless self (Varela\, 1991)\, which acknowledges the always already implicated care labor of others?
\nThis conference aims to address such questions and envision a care of the self that is not mobilized in the service of &ldquo\;othering&rdquo\; those whose forced/unpaid care labor prevents them from engaging in self-care. Maybe then we can manage to decenter the self in self-care and foster a self(less)-care that centers selflessness instead.
\nPossible topics include:
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; \; Ancient and/or contemporary self-care from a labor perspective
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; \; &ldquo\;Carelessness&rdquo\; as an ancient and/or contemporary mark of othering
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; \; Ancient and/or contemporary care of the self beyond the self
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; \; Ancient care ethics beyond the Greco-Roman world
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; \; Care as a challenge to ancient and/or contemporary notions of selfhood
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; \; Selfless self as an alternative response to ancient and/or contemporary self-care
\nPlease send your anonymized abstract (300-500 words) in PDF format to selflesscare@upce.cz by the 15th of December 2025\, together with a title\, 5 keywords\, and a list of no more than six references (not to be included in the word count). In the body of the email please add a short biography of yourself. Papers should not exceed 30 minutes\, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. A notification of acceptance should be available by the end of December 2025. We are unable to provide funding\, but we encourage you to consult with your home institutions.
ORGANIZER;CN=Jorge Ernesto Arjona Quintero;CN=Laura Candiotto: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR