Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
18-4-2019 10:45 AM
End Date
18-4-2019 12:00 PM
Keywords
Foucault, Crucifixion, Christianity, Power
Biography
John Ross is a Philosophy major interested in topics of religion, politics, and death.
Major
Philosophy / Humanities
Advisor for this project
Jeffrey Powell
Abstract
The centrality of the bizarre torture of a body in the West’s major faith is relevant to Michel Foucault’s interest in bodies and the relationship between bodies to demonstrations of power. The Crucifixion is a useful example because of its continued relevance to Western religion as well as being an event from the epoch of sovereign power that has sustained throughout different epochs of power. What is the first concern of this paper, however, is how the significance of the Crucifixion shifts depending on the power epoch in which a society is operating. At the time of Jesus’ death, the operating framework of the Jesus movement is read in context of demonstrations of sovereign power. But as power festers, the meanings of the Crucifixion that can be extracted from Christ’s death begin to break down. By exploring the Crucifixion, in both its physical description and theological meaning, this paper will reveal the Crucifixion’s place within sovereign power and the breakdown of the Crucifixion in later power epochs. This is done by exploring the Crucifixion in comparison with the trademark corresponding mechanisms of power of sovereign power, biopower, and disciplinary power as describe.
Crucifixion Throughout Power Epochs
The centrality of the bizarre torture of a body in the West’s major faith is relevant to Michel Foucault’s interest in bodies and the relationship between bodies to demonstrations of power. The Crucifixion is a useful example because of its continued relevance to Western religion as well as being an event from the epoch of sovereign power that has sustained throughout different epochs of power. What is the first concern of this paper, however, is how the significance of the Crucifixion shifts depending on the power epoch in which a society is operating. At the time of Jesus’ death, the operating framework of the Jesus movement is read in context of demonstrations of sovereign power. But as power festers, the meanings of the Crucifixion that can be extracted from Christ’s death begin to break down. By exploring the Crucifixion, in both its physical description and theological meaning, this paper will reveal the Crucifixion’s place within sovereign power and the breakdown of the Crucifixion in later power epochs. This is done by exploring the Crucifixion in comparison with the trademark corresponding mechanisms of power of sovereign power, biopower, and disciplinary power as describe.
