說真話與民主，傅柯的最後一課

Parrhēsia and Democracy, Michel Foucault's Last Lesson

本文紀念傅柯（Michel Foucault）逝世卅週年，探討傅柯在世最後3 年關注的一個議題：「說真話」。1982 年元月傅柯在法蘭西學院「主體的詮釋學」課程揭櫫了這個議題，探討「說真話」和「語藝」的區辨，以及「說真話」和逢迎者「說好聽話」之間的敵對；1983、1984春季在法蘭西學院「自我與他者的治理」、「真理的勇氣」的兩年春季課程裡，在政治場域「說真話」招致危險的困境與勇氣成為他授課的主題。1983 秋季傅柯在柏克萊加州大學授課，講稿英文出版的標題是《無畏的言說》。藉著剖析這3 年的文獻，本文不同意「傅柯不談當代民主政治……因為對『民主』」一詞他沒興趣」這般推論與揣測；相反地，本文指出傅柯對於當代民主政治中的困境與弔詭，有著很深的瞭解與關切。這是他沉浸在西元前4 世紀雅典民主危機的理由，也是他連結18 世紀末普魯士啟蒙運動中康德「何謂啟蒙？」的理由。本文最後引伸傅柯的最後訓課，回顧臺灣民主政治及其當前困境。

This article explores the problematics of Parrhēsia, an issue that Michel Foucault concerned with in the last three years of his life. In January 1982, Foucault brought up this ancient issue in his lecture at the College de France, The Hermeneutics of the Subject, proceeded to investigate its entanglement with “rhetoric”, and its antagonism with the sweet-talk of the flatterer (κόλακες). In the Spring 1983 and the Spring 1984 lectures at the College de France, as well as in the Fall 1983 lecture at the UC Berkeley, Foucault devotes himself to the predicaments of parrhēsia in political situations, i.e., speaking truth truthfully in political circumstances that begets danger and thus demands courage. From reading these texts closely, this paper wishes to dispel the inference that, since Foucault rarely talked about “democracy” in any contemporary contexts, he was not interested in “democratic politics” at all. Contrary to such speculation, this article argues that Foucault has a deep understanding and concern about the plight and paradox of contemporary democratic lives. This is the reason why he immersed himself in the 4th Century BCE Athenian democratic crisis, and linked it to the Prussia Enlightenment in the last decades of the 18th Century, when Kant’s “What Is Enlightenment?” rediscovered the ancient issue of parrhēsia and redefined it with a modern context. Lastly, this article draws on Foucault’s last lesson to review the contemporary democratic politics in Taiwan, its current plight and paradox.