Biopower and biopolitics

Sade between Foucault and Agamben

Abstract

Marquês de Sade is a libertine French writer from the early 18th century whose works permeate the studies of Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben. This qualitative study, of a theoretical nature, aims to discuss how Sade appears in the works of Foucault and Agamben to understand proximity and singularities about biopolitics in both authors. Sade stands out in history and literature for its erotic, philosophical and libertine notes. In Foucault, Sade covers many of his writings, with different inflections and uses, in a way more or less related to his reflections on biopolitics. In Agamben, on the other hand, the relationship with biopolitics is clearer, both to explain his concept of naked life, and to show the state of exception in which he lives. The considerations of this study indicate a way to think Sade in the eyes of Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben, as well as the announcement of the biopolitical developments of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Keywords: biopower; biopolitics; Sade; Foucault; Agamben.