This study examines the transformation of human freedom from the Enlightenment to the digital age, arguing that modern autonomy has evolved into a sophisticated form of subjugation through disciplinary, biopolitical, and algorithmic mechanisms. Drawing on Kant, Nietzsche, Foucault, Butler, and contemporary critical theorists, the work analyzes how subjectivity is produced and governed within technological systems of power. It then proposes an alternative anthropological horizon through the Orthodox concept of personhood and the notion of theosis, understood not as mysticism but as an ontological mode of relational freedom. By integrating genealogy of power with theological ontology, the study advances the thesis that political liberation alone is insufficient in the age of digital governance and that genuine freedom requires a transformation of the human mode of existence itself.
Table of Contents
From Subjugation to Theosis
SUMMARY – THE MEANING OF THE WORK IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Preface
Methodological Note: Philosophical–Theological Genealogy and Critical Ontology
Author’s Theoretical Position
INTRODUCTION. The Enlightenment as a Promise of Emancipation – Kant and the Autonomy of Reason
1. The Enlightenment as a Promise of Freedom: The Historical Genesis of a Project
2. Kant and the Concept of Autonomy: The Human Being as a Legislating Being
3. The Foucauldian Reading: The Enlightenment as the Production of Subjectivity
4. Digital Modernity: Autonomy under the Prism of Cyber-Surveillance
5. Conclusion of the Section: Kantian Autonomy as a Starting Point, Not an End
1. From the Subject of Power to the Person of Relation
2. The New Dictatorship of the Person: From Freedom to Hyper-Exposure
3. The Ontology of Hope
4. The Journey: From Knowledge to Participation
The Person as the Hope of the World
SECTION 1: THE SUBJUGATION OF SUBJECTIVITY
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Enlightenment as Exit and as Trap
Chapter 2: Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche – The Genesis of the Modern Subject
1. Kant: Autonomy as Foundation and as a Precondition of Obedience
2. Hegel: Self-Consciousness as Recognition and Dependence
3. Nietzsche: The Death of God and the Deconstruction of the Self
4. Overall Dialectic
Chapter 3: The Genealogy of Power – From Nietzsche to Foucault
1. Nietzschean Genealogy: History as a Conflict of Forces
2. Foucault: Power as a Productive Force
3. Disciplinary Societies: The Microphysics of Power
4. Biopolitics: Life as an Object of Power
5. The Genealogical Crisis of the Subject
1.1 The Subject as a Product of Power (Foucault)
Introduction
The Genealogy of Subjectivity
The Theological Dimension: From Confession to Self-Knowledge
From Power to Self-Surveillance
The Subject as a Field of Power–Knowledge Relations
Conclusion (Part A)
Bibliography (Part A)
1.1 The Subject as a Product of Power (Part B)
The Disciplinary Society and the Genesis of the Inner Subject
From the Disciplinary to the Biopolitical Subject
The Psychopolitics of Transparency
Surveillance as an Economy of Knowledge: Zuboff and Deleuze
From the Ascetic Subject to the Technological Profile
Conclusion (Part B)
Bibliography (Part B)
The Logos as a Personal Event – The Transcendence of Enlightenment Objectivity
1.1 The Subject as a Product of Power (Part C)
The Theological Reading of Subjectivity: From Obedience to Theosis
The Surveillance of the Soul and the Metaphysics of Control
Theosis as a Reversal of Disciplinary Logic
From Confession to the Communion of the Logos
Resistance as a Spiritual Act
Conclusion (Part C)
Bibliography (Part C)
Chapter 4: Power/Knowledge – How the Subject Becomes a Construct
1. The Archive and the Surfaces of Emergence
2. Normative Sciences and the Production of Identities
3. Normalization as the Core of Modern Subjugation
4. The Disappearance of Man: Subjectivity without Foundation
Chapter 5: Autonomy as a New Form of Subjugation – From Freedom to Self-Discipline
1. Freedom as Imperative: The Subject of Modernity
2. The New Type of Subject: The Responsible Self
3. The Neoliberal Transformation: Freedom as Economic Capacity
4. The Hubris of Freedom: From Kant to Nietzsche through Foucault
5. Conclusion: Autonomy as Power
Chapter 6: The “Death of God” and the Birth of Man — The Metaphysical Rupture of Modernity
1. The Metaphysical Transition: From God to Man
2. The Birth of Man as a Figure of Knowledge (Foucault)
3. The Metaphysical Crisis as a Biopolitical Opportunity
4. The Tragedy of Freedom: Man Without Foundation
5. The Disappearance of Man: The End of the Modern Illusion
Chapter 7: Subjugation and Self-Formation — The Unity of the Subject in Foucault
1. Assujettissement: Subjugation as the Production of the Subject
2. Subjectivation: Self-Formation and the Ethics of the Self
Final Conclusion of the Section
3. The Triadic Structure: Truth – Power – Subject (Flynn)
4. The Anti-Subjectivist Hypothesis: Why Foucault Does Not Abolish the Subject
4.1 The Misreading of Foucault: The “Anti-Subjectivist” Misconception
4.2 Assujettissement and Subjectivation: The Tension That Constitutes the Subject
4.3 The Subject as Labor: The Ethics of Self-Formation
4.4 Freedom, Power, and Self-Transformation
4.5 Conclusion: Why Foucault Does Not Abolish the Subject
5. Conclusion: The Unity of Subjugation and Autonomy
From Autonomy to Techno-Subjugation — A Prologue to Postmodernity
1. Modern Autonomy as Promise and as Disciplinary Structure
2. The Crisis of Autonomy and the Limits of Modern Subjectivity
3. The Birth of Techno-Subjugation: From Self-Discipline to Algorithmic Governance
(a) Datafication – The Conversion of Life into Data
(b) Predictive Normalization – Power as Algorithmic Anticipation
(c) Techno-Autonomy – Autonomy as System Function
4. The Postmodern Human Being: A Subject in Dissolution or in Transition?
5. Techno-Subjugation as Biopolitics 2.0
6. Postmodernity as Prologue: Why Techno-Subjugation Is Not an End but a Beginning
Chapter 8: Technologies of the Self — The Ethical Dimension of Subjugation
Chapter 9: The Self as Ascetic Practice — Discourse, Truth, Subjectivity
1. Discourse as the Condition of the Self
2. Truth as Construction and Discipline
3. Subjectivity as Ascetic Form
4. The Self as a Site of Rupture
5. Conclusion: Asceticism as the Historical Fate of Subjectivity
1.2 The Performativity of Identity and Postmodern Power
Introduction
Performativity as a Technology of Power
The Disciplinary Genealogy of Performativity
From the Disciplined Body to the Performative Profile
The Politics of Recognition and the Anxiety of Performative Existence
The Theological Perspective: From Performance to Personhood
Conclusion
Bibliography
1.3 From Discipline to Surveillance: The Genesis of the Digital Human
Introduction
From the Panopticon to the Society of Control
The Biopolitics of Data
From Homo Disciplinatus to Homo Digitalis
The Theology of Transparency: The New Panopticon
Surveillance and the Self-Exile of Interiority
Chapter 10: The Subject as a Form of Resistance — Rupture Within Subjection
1. Resistance as the Surplus of Power
2. Rupture as a Movement of Discourse
3. The Microphysics of Rupture
4. The Ethics of Rupture
5. The Subject as an Open Contingency
Conclusion
Section 2.1 — From the Negative Freedom of the Subject to the Affirmative Freedom of the Person
Part A: The Crisis of Freedom in Modernity
Part B: The Proposal of Orthodox Anthropology — Freedom as Relation
Part C — From Apophatic to Hypostatic Freedom: Theosis as the Restoration of the Subject
Section 2.2 — Orthodox Anthropology: From the Individual to the Person
Part A — The Individual of Modernity and the Theological Critique of Autonomy
The Individual–Person Dialectic: The Transcendence of Autonomy
Part B — Cappadocian Theology and the Ontology of the Person
Part C — The Person as the Foundation of Freedom and Communion: Zizioulas and Yannaras
Section 2.3 — The Supremacy of Subjectivity through Union with the Other
Section 2.4 — Theosis as Liberation from Necessity
Section 2.5 — The Person as Resistance to Digital Power
Chapter 11: The Human Self as a Historical Fiction — The Deconstruction of the Essence of the Subject
1. Essence as Security — and Its Collapse
2. The Self as Surface — Not Depth
3. Historical Fiction: Ourselves as Inventions
4. The Deconstruction of Essence and Freedom
5. Conclusion: The Human as a Work Without a Final Form
Chapter 12: The Modern Trap of Autonomy — Freedom as a Form of Obligation
1. The Kantian Root of Autonomy as Binding Duty
2. The Neoliberal Transformation of Autonomy into an Imperative of Self-Optimization
3. The Foucauldian Deconstruction of Autonomy as a Regime of Power
4. Freedom as Obligation: The Paradox
5. Freedom as Self-Surveillance
6. From Right to Obligation: The Postmodern Condition
7. Conclusion: Freedom That Binds
1. The Ethics of Autonomy: Freedom as Duty
2. Neoliberal Idealization: The Human as Enterprise
3. Freedom as a Form of Subjection
4. The Mythology of the “Authentic Self”
5. The Impasse of Autonomy and the Opening Toward Another Form of Subjectivity
UNIT II — The Theosis of Subjectivity
Chapter 1 — THEOSIS OF SUBJECTIVITY
Part A — The Concept of the Person
1. The Subject as a Node of Necessity
1.1 Identity as a Work of Will: The Modern Axiom
1.2 Identity as Burden Rather Than Freedom
1.3 The Fantasy of Self-Mastery
1.4 Subjectivity as Defense
1.5 Existential Anxiety as a Symptom of Structural Insufficiency
1.6 The Subject as a Node of Necessity
1.7 Conclusion: Identity as Unstable Labor
2. The Emergence of the Person: the Revolution of “Being-in-Relation”
3. The Cappadocians and the Transformation of the Meaning of Existence
4. The Person Is Not Fulfilled Within Itself; It Is Fulfilled When It Is Given
5. From Necessity to Freedom
6. The Person as the Locus of Freedom
Chapter 2: The Person as a Mode of Existence
2.1 The Cappadocian Break: From Essence to Hypostasis, from Individual to Person
Theological Anthropology as an Answer to the Impasse of Modernism
The Person as the Emergence of Freedom
The Person as the Mystery of Gift
1. Introduction: From Individual to Person
2. The Cappadocian Fathers and the Genesis of Person-Centered Ontology
2.1 The Distinction Between Essence and Hypostasis
2.2 Trinitarian Relation as the Archetype of the Human Person
3. The Person as Ecstatic Movement
3.1 Ecstasy as Transcendence of the Individual Self
4. Zizioulas: The Person as Relation
5. Christos Yannaras and the Ontology of Gift
5.1 From “Individual” to “Person”
6. The Person as Freedom from Necessity
7. Gift as a Mode of Existence—Patristic Foundations
8. Relation, Love, and the Ontology of Theosis
9. The Person as Anti-Subjectivity
10. The Eschatological Dimension of the Person
11. Synthetic Conclusion
2.2 Being as Communion: The Ontology of Relation
2.2.1 The Radical Shift: From Existence to Freedom
2.2.2 The Person as an “Ecclesial Event”
2.2.3 The Person as a “Hypostasis of Freedom”
2.2.4 Convergence with the Phenomenology of the Person
2.2.5 Communion as an Ontological Category
2.2.6 The Anthropological Consequence: The Human Being as the Possibility of Transcendence
2.3 Christos Yannaras — The Person as Freedom from Necessity
2.3.1 Individual and Person: Two Ontologies
2.3.2 Freedom as Eros (Love with Existential Depth)
2.3.3 The Person as Ecclesiology, Not Psychology
2.3.4 Yannaras and Foucault: From Exodus to Theosis
2.3.5 The Person as the Transcendence of Death
Concise Conclusion
3.4 Comparative Synthesis: Cappadocians – Zizioulas – Yannaras & Philosophies of Deconstruction (Foucault / Prozorov / Levinas)
3.4.1 Two Worldviews That Do Not Converge: Subject vs. Person
3.4.2 Foucault — The Deconstruction of the Subject
3.4.3 Levinas — Ethics of Relation and the Priority of the “You”
3.4.4 The Great Transcendence: From “Exodus” (Foucault / Levinas) to “Theosis” (Cappadocians – Zizioulas – Yannaras)
3.4.5 The Person as the Possibility of Theosis
4. Theosis of Subjectivity
4.1 Introduction: From the Subject to the Person — From Self-Assertion to Gift
4.2 What Theosis Means (Theology and Philosophy of the Person)
4.3 Theosis as the Fulfillment of Subjectivity
4.4 From the Psychology of the Self to the Ontology of the Person
4.5 The Eucharistic Experience as the Locus of Theosis
4.6 Theosis as the Healing of Fear
4.7 Necessity as the Existential Prison of the Subject
4.8 Theosis Transforms Possibility into Fulfillment
4.9 Transcending the Necessity of Nature
4.10 Fearless Freedom: The End of Self-Protection
4.11 Theosis and the Abolition of “Autobiography”
4.12 Eucharistic Ontology: The Human Being Becomes Self by Offering the Self
4.13 Theosis: The Definitive Answer to Death
Summary – Part II
Theosis of Subjectivity
Part C — Love as the Abolition of Law, Property, and Fear
4.14 Theosis as the Rupture of the Logic of Property
4.15 Love as the Abolition of the Necessity of Law
4.16 Love Is Not a Feeling — It Is an Ontological Mode of Existence
4.17 Relationship as Participation in the Being of God (The Cappadocian Fathers)
4.18 Theosis Does Not Mean Transcending Humanity — It Means Its Fulfillment
4.19 Theosis as a “Universal Event” of the Human Being
Critical Conclusion — Part C
SECTION 3
Autonomy Under Threat: The New Dictatorship of the Person
3.1 From Disciplinary Societies to Societies of Control
3.2 Algorithmic Governmentality: From the Citizen to the Profile
1. Introduction: From Political Subjectivity to the Digital Machine
2. The Translation of Existence into Digital Traces
3. From Citizen to Profile: The Political Evaporation of the Human Being
4. Prediction as Power: The Statistics of the Future
5. The Profile as a Condition of Access: The New Ontological Threat
6. Freedom as Unpredictability: The New Criminalization of Ontology
7. The Dictatorship of the Profile: The Illusion of Freedom
3.3 Psychopolitics and Self-Surveillance: The Internal Possession of the Person
3.4 Data Economy and Surveillance: Experience as Raw Material
3.5 The Social Body of the Metaverse: Power Without Physicality
3.6 The End of Autonomy: The Person Becomes a Metric
1. The Loss of the “Inner Space”
2. Identity as a Performance Metric
3. Universal Transparency as an Obligation of Existence
4. The Transcendence of Evaluation as a Central Condition of Autonomy
5. Algorithmic Decision as the Substitution of Judgment
6. From Person to Profile: The Ontological Drift
7. The End of Responsibility
8. Performativity as the Replacement of Singularity
9. Absolute Alienation: The Person Becomes Functionality
The New Dictatorship of the Person: The Technological Governance of Subjectivity
1. Power Shifts: From Control of the Body to Control of Identity
2. Transparency Is Not a Choice; It Is a Norm
3. The Collapse of Autonomy: Singularity as Functional Error
4. Dictatorship Without a Dictator
5. Exclusion as a Method of Compliance
6. From Subjectivity to Performative Identity
7. The Person as Heteronomy
Concise Formulation of the Conclusion
Transition to Unit 4
Theosis as the Recovery of Subjectivity
Introduction
4.1 Theosis Is Not the Transcendence of Human Nature but the Transcendence of Isolation
4.2 Relation as a Primary Ontological Category
4.3 Theosis as the Recovery of Inner Space
4.4 Theosis as Liberation from the Need for Self-Optimization
4.5 Theosis as Resistance: The Non-Measurable Value of the Person
4.6 Conclusion of Unit 4
SYNTHESIS: Person – Technology – Theosis
5.1 Purpose of the Synthesis
5.2 The Failure of Modern Subjectivity
5.3 The Success of Technological Power
5.4 The Ontological Exit: The Person
Part Two — The Person as Resistance to Algorithmic Identity
5.5 The Person as Resistance to Algorithmic Identity
5.6 The Person Is Not Autonomy; He Is Freedom-in-Relation
5.7 The Value of the Person Does Not Depend on Performance
5.8 The Person Resists Because He Cannot Be Reproduced
5.9 Silence as an Anti-Power Act
5.10 Conclusion of Part Two
UNIT 4
THEOSIS: THE ONLY PATH TO THE RECOVERY OF SUBJECTIVITY
4. Introduction
4.1 The Failure of Modern Subjectivity
4.2 Technological Subjectivity: The Profile Replaces the Person
4.3 The Person as an Alternative Ontology
4.4 Theosis = Recovery of Interiority
4.5 Freedom as Relation, Not Autonomy
4.6 Theosis as Liberation from Performativity
4.7 Theosis as Recovery of Self-Mastery
4.8 The Person as Non-Measurable Value
4.9 Theosis as a New Anthropological Path
4.10 Ontological Conclusion
4.11 Theosis as Restoration of Relation with the Other
4.12 Theosis as Transcendence of Digital Visibility
4.13 Theosis and the Abolition of Fear
4.14 Theosis and the Inner Space of Consciousness
4.15 Theosis and Freedom from the Need for Acceptance
4.16 Theosis: The Only Path of Non-Instrumental Existence
4.17 Conclusion: Why Theosis Is the Only Path
SYNTHESIS: Person – Technology – Theosis
5. Introduction
5.1 The Impasse of Modern Subjectivity
5.2 Technological Subjectivity: From Autonomy to Performativity
5.3 Why the Profile Cannot Become a Person
5.4 Theosis as an Alternative Ontological Proposal
5.5.1 The Nature of Digital Power
5.5.2 The Profile as Negation of the Person
5.5.3 Measurability as a New Form of Subjugation
5.5.4 The Person as Non-Measurable Entity
5.5.5 Existence as Relation and Not as Performance
5.5.6 The Person as Non-Conformity – Silence as an Act of Freedom
5.5.7 Conclusion
5.6 Theosis and the Recovery of Interior Space — The Sanctuary of Freedom
5.6.1 The Loss of the “Inner” in Contemporary Subjectivity
5.6.2 Theosis Restores Interior Space as an Ontological Prerequisite
5.6.3 Silence as an Act of Sovereignty
5.6.4 Interior Space and Non-Performative Existence
5.6.5 Theosis as the Sanctuary of Freedom
5.6.6 Conclusion
5.7 Final Conclusion of the Trilogy: Where the Person Saves Subjectivity
5.7.1 Recapitulation of the Trajectory: From “Subject” to “Person”
5.7.2 Why the Two Anthropologies — Modern and Technological — Fail
5.7.3 Theosis as a New Anthropology
5.7.4 Theosis as Resistance to Technological Alienation
5.7.5 The Person as the “Sanctuary” of Freedom
5.7.6 Final Position
5.7.7 Epilogue of the Trilogy
Appendices
Appendix I — Theosis as the End and Purpose of Subjectivity
Part A — From the Social Contract to the Myth of the State
Appendix B — The Deconstruction of Power and the Re-signification of Freedom in the Ontology of the Person
Appendix C — Theosis as the Re-foundation of Community and the Transcendence of the Myth of the State
Appendix D — Theological and Ontological Conclusion: Theosis as Telos
Appendix E — Digital Biopolitics and the Power of Balance
1. The Metaphysics of Surveillance
Research Objective and Topics
The work examines the transformation of human freedom from the Enlightenment to the digital age, arguing that modern autonomy has evolved into a sophisticated form of subjugation. It investigates how subjectivity is produced and governed within technological systems and proposes an alternative anthropological horizon through the Orthodox concept of personhood and theosis as a mode of relational freedom.
- The historical and conceptual evolution of modern autonomy from Kant to the digital age.
- The critique of subjectivity as a construct of disciplinary, biopolitical, and algorithmic power.
- The development of an Orthodox theological ontology of the person as a framework for relational freedom.
- The analysis of digital governance, cyber-surveillance, and the transformation of the subject into a data profile.
- The proposal of theosis as a path for recovering human existence beyond technological and political subjugation.
Excerpt from the Book
Chapter 1: The Enlightenment as Exit and as Trap
The Enlightenment, as Kant defines it in his now-classic essay “What Is Enlightenment?”, constitutes a historical moment in which the human being is called to exit the “immaturity” into which he has condemned himself. This exit (Ausgang) is neither a political event nor an institutional reform; it is an act of self-consciousness: the determination of the subject to use its own reason without the guidance of another. In other words, the subject is called to become autonomous. This represents a philosophical rupture of unprecedented significance, transforming not only political thought but also the ontological status of the self.
Yet already in Kant there exists a fundamental ambiguity. The famous distinction between the public and the private use of reason—which Kant introduces in order to safeguard social order during the process of Enlightenment—reveals that modern freedom is born within a framework of obedience. The subject is obliged to obey its duties as citizen, official, or soldier (private use), in order to be able to express its reason freely as a thinker or as a member of the public use of reason (public use). Autonomy, therefore, is not immediate; it is mediated by a structure of obedience, which does not abolish freedom but sustains it. The modern subject is free insofar as it remains disciplined.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1: The Enlightenment as Exit and as Trap: Analyzes how the Kantian call to autonomy, while promising emancipation, simultaneously introduces a new structure of discipline and obedience.
Chapter 2: Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche – The Genesis of the Modern Subject: Traces the historical development of the modern subject, moving from Kantian autonomy through Hegelian historicity to Nietzschean deconstruction.
Chapter 3: The Genealogy of Power – From Nietzsche to Foucault: Explores the shift from traditional sovereignty to productive disciplinary and biopolitical regimes that construct subjectivity.
Chapter 4: Power/Knowledge – How the Subject Becomes a Construct: Investigates how the power/knowledge nexus produces the subject, arguing that truth does not discover the subject but emerges within systems of truth.
Chapter 5: Autonomy as a New Form of Subjugation – From Freedom to Self-Discipline: Examines how the Enlightenment ideal of autonomy has transformed into an imperative of constant self-management and neoliberal performance.
Keywords
Subjectivity, Biopolitics, Digital Power, Personhood, Theosis, Political Philosophy, Posthumanism, Autonomy, Genealogy of Power, Ontology of the Person, Surveillance Capitalism, Cyber-Surveillance, Algorithmic Governance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core argument of this work regarding modern freedom?
The work argues that modern autonomy has shifted from an emancipatory project into a sophisticated form of subjugation, where the individual is continuously produced, regulated, and surveilled by disciplinary and algorithmic systems.
What is the primary objective of the study?
The primary objective is to demonstrate that political liberation alone is insufficient in the age of digital governance and that genuine freedom requires an ontological transformation of the human mode of existence, specifically through the Orthodox concept of theosis.
How does the author define the shift from "subject" to "person"?
The transition from "subject" to "person" is presented as a movement from a self-enclosed entity constructed by power and discourse to an open, relational mode of existence grounded in communion and divine energy.
Which scientific methods are employed in this analysis?
The study utilizes a philosophical–theological methodological framework, integrating critical genealogy, ontological analysis, and interdisciplinary critique across philosophy, political theory, and digital studies.
What is the role of technology in the author's critique?
Technology is portrayed not merely as a tool but as a regime of rationality that programs behavior, treats human experience as raw data for extraction, and replaces the uniqueness of the person with a predictable, measurable profile.
How are "theosis" and "personhood" treated in this book?
Theosis and personhood are presented as ontological categories describing a relational mode of existence—not as confessional doctrines, but as analytical frameworks for rethinking freedom beyond current technological and political entrapments.
What does the author mean by the "dictatorship of the profile"?
It refers to the digital governance model where the individual's value and social access are determined by an algorithmic "data double" or profile, forcing the human being to perform and appear in ways that satisfy the system's need for predictability.
In what way does the author suggest resistance against digital power?
The author argues for an "ontological resistance" that does not rely on political revolt, but on the restoration of interiority, the refusal to be reduced to data, and the commitment to living as an irreplaceable person within the sanctity of relation.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Photios Zygoulis (Autor:in), 2026, From Subjugation to Theosis, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1688251
