From Subjugation to Theosis

From the Posthuman to the God-Human: The Theology of the Logos and the Metaphysics of Hope

Akademische Arbeit , 2026 , 250 Seiten

Philosophie - Theoretische (Erkenntnis, Wissenschaft, Logik, Sprache)

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
      • Appendix F — The Weighted Balance Framework (WBF): The Search for a New Equilibrium
      • Appendix G — The Power of Balance
      • Conclusion
      • Appendix H — The Person as Resistance to Digital Power
        • 1. From the Subject to the Profile: The Foucauldian Warning
        • 2. The Depersonalization of the Human Being
        • 3. The Person as Ontological Resistance
        • 4. The Freedom of the Person and the End of Domination
        • 5. From Information to the Logos
        • Conclusion
        • Final Conclusion — Theological and Ontological: Theosis as Telos
      • **Appendix I — Immanuel Kant and His Contribution to Human Freedom:**
        • 1. Kantian Autonomy: Moral Freedom and Universal Reason
        • 2. The Digital Age as a New Heteronomy: The Crisis of Autonomy
        • 3. Contemporary State Absolutism: A Kantian Diagnosis
        • 4. What Kant Would Demand Today
          • (a) Legal Limitation of Technological Power
          • (b) Moral Education for the Regeneration of Conscience
          • (c) Recognition of the Person as an End in Itself
        • 5. The Trilogy as a Transcendence of the Kantian Paradigm
        • 6. Epilogue: What Kant Would Say About the “Theology of the Person”
      • Appendix J — Judith Butler and the Relation of Her Thought to the Trilogy
        • 1. The Performativity of Identity: Butler and the Dissolution of the Stable Subject
        • 2. Power as a Productive Force: Butler and Foucault in Dialogue with the Trilogy
        • 3. Butler and the Question of Resistance: From Performativity to the Person
        • 4. The Body and Embodiment: A Bridge Between Butler and Theology
        • 5. Conclusion: Butler as Ally and Counterpoint to the Trilogy
        • Indicative Bibliography
      • **Appendix K — Myth and the Trilogy:**
        • 1. Myth as the Objectification of Subjectivity
        • 2. The Absolutization of the Relative and the New Digital Normativity
        • 3. Personification and the Production of Digital “Deities”
        • 4. Forgetfulness as the Precondition of Power
        • 5. Taboo and Norm: The New Ethics of Conformity
        • 6. The Narcissism of Myth and Algorithmic Self-Consumption
        • 7. Toward Demythologization: The Person as an Exit from Myth
        • Conclusion
        • The Characteristics of Myth (after Papapetrou)
      • **Appendix L —**
        • 1. American Power as Technological Sovereignty
        • 2. American Biopolitics: From Security to the Management of Life
        • 3. German Critique: Habermas, Sloterdijk, and Technocratic Universalism
        • 4. French Problematization: From Foucault to Deleuze and Bigo
        • 5. The United States as the Foundation of the Post-Human Era
        • Conclusion
      • **Appendix M —**
        • 1. The Decline of Modern Autonomy and the Need for a New Universal Horizon
        • 2. Universality Beyond State and Technological Universalism
        • 3. Romanticism as the Search for Inner Freedom
        • 4. The Trilogy and the Christian Ontology of the Person
        • 5. The Universality of Freedom in the Age of Digital Unfreedom
        • 6. Conclusion: Toward a New Community of Freedom
      • **Appendix O —**
        • 1. The Paradox of Revolution: Power Reproduces Itself
        • 2. Foucault and the End of Revolution as a Political Event
        • 3. Arendt and the Impasse of Political Regeneration
        • 4. Agamben and the Void of Sovereignty
        • 5. Judith Butler and Post-Revolutionary Identity
        • 6. Transition: Revolution as Void, Theosis as Fulness
      • **Appendix P —**
        • 1. Power Without a Face: Foucault and the End of Sovereignty
        • 2. Arendt: Post-Revolutionary Emptiness and the Collapse of Public Space
        • 3. Agamben: The State of Exception as Post-Revolutionary Normality
        • 4. Judith Butler: After Uprising, Performativity Remains
        • 5. Byung-Chul Han: The Biopolitics of the “Ideal Revolutionary Subject”
        • 6. Sloterdijk: After Revolution, the Ecosystem Remains
        • 7. Zuboff: After Revolution, the Algorithm Remains Sovereign
        • 8. Conclusion of Part B
      • **Appendix Q —**
        • 1. Why Politics Is Not Enough: The Anthropological Void of Revolution
        • 2. The Person as the Transcendence of the Subject
        • 3. Theosis as Affirmation of Ontological Freedom
        • 4. Why Theosis Is the Only Realistic Response to Digital Totalitarianism
        • 5. From Political Revolution to Ontological Resurrection: A New Structure of Freedom
        • 6. Final Synthesis
  • Declaration of Authorship and Use of Artificial Intelligence

Objectives & Themes

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. It 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. The primary objective is to advance 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.

• Critique of modern autonomy as a form of sophisticated subjugation.
• Analysis of subjectivity within technological systems of power (biopolitics, digital governance).
• Exploration of Orthodox personhood and theosis as an ontological alternative to modern and postmodern subjectivities.
• Integration of genealogical critique with theological ontology.
• Identification of relational freedom as a path of resistance against digital domination.
• Re-evaluation of freedom as an anthropological and ontological question in the 21st century.

Excerpt from the Book

Autonomy as a New Form of Subjugation – From Freedom to Self-Discipline

Modernity defined itself as the project of emancipation. From Kant to political liberalism and contemporary forms of individualism, autonomy was presented as the highest goal of human existence. Yet philosophical and genealogical inquiry into modernity reveals that autonomy is not merely a right; it is an obligation. It is not a natural state; it is a task. And as a task, it requires surveillance, discipline, and continuous self-monitoring.

Here emerges the paradox at the core of Foucauldian critique: autonomy, in its very structure, is transformed into a new mode of subjugation. The subject is called to become free under conditions that bind it more deeply, as freedom ceases to be conceived as possibility and is elevated to an imperative.

In the Kantian tradition, the freedom of the subject is grounded as the capacity of Reason to legislate for itself. Yet this freedom presupposes obedience to rational Reason—an obedience that is not external but internalized. The subject is no longer controlled by external authority; it is controlled by its own norms. Autonomy becomes self-binding.

This schema is adopted by the liberal political structures of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The individual is called to be responsible, productive, self-sufficient, morally autonomous. It is not permitted to be immature—and whoever fails to meet the standards of maturity is excluded from the political community, deemed “deviant,” “irresponsible,” or “inadequate.” Autonomy thus becomes a criterion of normality.

In disciplinary and neoliberal societies, autonomy is not a privilege but a duty. The subject is called to self-regulate, self-manage, and self-improve. This transition from external regulation to internal self-regulation constitutes the defining characteristic of contemporary power. Foucault describes this process as “technologies of the self”: practices through which individuals shape their identities according to standards deemed rational and natural. The subject becomes the author of itself—but with normative tools already provided. Autonomy is a form of labor that the individual must perform daily: to act diligently, to succeed, to control desires, to discipline the body, to organize time.

This form of self-control is not simple conformity; it is the internalization of power. The gaze becomes internal. Discipline becomes conscience.

In the neoliberal era, autonomy shifts from ethics to economics. As studies of governmentality show, liberal power does not directly control; it organizes the conditions through which individuals control themselves. Freedom is understood as the “entrepreneurship of the self”: the individual must manage the body, skills, capital, time, and even relationships as investments. Here the new form of subjugation becomes clear: the individual is held responsible for everything—successes and failures alike—even when conditions exceed personal control. Freedom becomes a burden. Responsibility becomes a mechanism of control. This type of subject is deeply dependent on regimes of market, evaluation, and normativity. Autonomy is the very principle that binds it most effectively.

Chapter Summaries

From Subjugation to Theosis (Overall Work): This study critiques modern notions of freedom and autonomy in the digital age, proposing the Orthodox concept of personhood and theosis as an ontological path to relational freedom beyond technological subjugation.

INTRODUCTION. The Enlightenment as a Promise of Emancipation – Kant and the Autonomy of Reason: This section explores the Enlightenment's promise of freedom through rational autonomy, highlighting the paradox that this freedom inherently links to new forms of discipline and self-subjugation, especially in the context of digital surveillance.

SECTION 1: THE SUBJUGATION OF SUBJECTIVITY: This part examines how modern subjectivity, from its philosophical genesis (Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche) to Foucauldian genealogy of power, reveals that autonomy, rather than pure liberation, often constitutes a profound form of internal subjugation through mechanisms of knowledge, technology, and biopolitics.

Chapter 4: Power/Knowledge – How the Subject Becomes a Construct: This chapter delves into Foucault's concept of power/knowledge, arguing that the subject is not a pre-existing entity but a construct of discourses, practices, and institutions, where truth and identity are produced through normalization and classification rather than discovered.

Chapter 5: Autonomy as a New Form of Subjugation – From Freedom to Self-Discipline: It analyzes how modern autonomy, initially conceived as emancipation, paradoxically transforms into an obligation of continuous self-discipline and self-monitoring, particularly in neoliberal and digital contexts where freedom becomes an economic capacity.

Chapter 6: The “Death of God” and the Birth of Man — The Metaphysical Rupture of Modernity: This chapter discusses Nietzsche's "death of God" as a metaphysical rupture, leading to the "birth of Man" as a self-grounding, yet ultimately foundationless, object of knowledge and management, paving the way for new forms of biopolitical power.

Chapter 7: Subjugation and Self-Formation — The Unity of the Subject in Foucault: This section clarifies Foucault's view that the subject is simultaneously an object of subjugation (assujettissement) and a bearer of self-formation (subjectivation), emphasizing that these are not opposing forces but intrinsic aspects of modern subjectivity, continually shaped by power relations.

From Autonomy to Techno-Subjugation — A Prologue to Postmodernity: This part introduces the concept of "techno-subjugation" where human existence is converted into data and subjected to algorithmic anticipation and control, transforming freedom from a right into an obligation of system compliance and self-optimization.

UNIT II — The Theosis of Subjectivity: This unit introduces Orthodox anthropology, contrasting modern subjective autonomy with the concept of the "person" as a relational mode of existence, arguing that true freedom is found not in isolation but in communion, leading to theosis as ontological fulfillment.

Section 2.5 — The Person as Resistance to Digital Power: This section asserts that the concept of the person, being non-measurable and unpredictable, offers a radical form of resistance to digital power, which seeks to reduce human existence to transparent, controllable data and algorithmic profiles.

SYNTHESIS: Person – Technology – Theosis: This concluding synthesis argues that the ontology of the person, grounded in theosis, offers the only existential and ontological exit from the crises of modern and technological subjectivities, by restoring interiority, relational freedom, and intrinsic human value beyond performativity and algorithmic control.

Keywords

Subjectivity, Biopolitics, Digital Power, Personhood, Theosis, Political Philosophy, Posthumanism, Autonomy, Self-subjugation, Relational Freedom, Ontology, Surveillance Capitalism, Algorithmic Governance, Self-discipline, Communion, Transcendence

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this work fundamentally about?

This work fundamentally critiques the contemporary understanding of human freedom, particularly how it has transformed from Enlightenment autonomy into a sophisticated form of subjugation in the digital age. It proposes an alternative path to genuine freedom through the Orthodox concept of personhood and theosis.

What are the central thematic areas explored?

The central thematic areas include the historical evolution of human freedom, the mechanisms of power (disciplinary, biopolitical, algorithmic), the philosophical deconstruction of the modern subject, the ontological status of the person in Orthodox theology, and the challenge of digital governance to human existence.

What is the primary objective or research question 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 a transformation of the human mode of existence itself. The core research question asks: "What kind of being is the human person when freedom is no longer guaranteed by political institutions, technological systems, or revolutionary rupture?"

Which scientific method is utilized in this work?

The work adopts a philosophical-theological methodological framework, grounded in critical genealogy and ontological analysis. It is not an empirical social-scientific study but a critical investigation of the conditions under which human freedom, subjectivity, and personhood are constituted in modern and late-modern societies.

What main concepts are covered in the core part of the study?

The core parts of the study cover the Enlightenment's promise of emancipation and its inherent paradoxes, the Foucauldian genealogy of power/knowledge, the rise of techno-subjugation and algorithmic governance, and the Orthodox anthropology of the person as a mode of relational existence that resists digital totalitarianism, culminating in the concept of theosis.

What key terms characterize this work?

Key terms characterizing this work include Subjectivity, Biopolitics, Digital Power, Personhood, Theosis, Political Philosophy, Posthumanism, Autonomy, Self-subjugation, Relational Freedom, Ontology, Surveillance Capitalism, Algorithmic Governance, Self-discipline, Communion, Transcendence.

How does the concept of "theosis" challenge modern notions of autonomy and freedom?

Theosis challenges modern autonomy by redefining freedom not as independence or individual choice, but as participation and relational love. While modern autonomy isolates the self and leads to self-subjugation, theosis proposes a communal mode of existence that transcends the ego's necessity, offering freedom from fear and the need for self-preservation through self-offering and communion with the Other and God.

What is the "new dictatorship of the person" in the digital age?

The "new dictatorship of the person" refers to how contemporary technological systems, through digital governance, surveillance capitalism, and algorithmic normalization, replace the person's singularity with a measurable, predictable digital profile. Freedom is transformed into an obligation of self-exposure and performance, where individuals are compelled to participate and conform to digital norms to gain visibility and value, effectively becoming functional data points rather than unique beings.

• Autor: Photios Zygoulis (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2026
• Seiten: 250
• Katalognummer: V1688251
• ISBN (PDF): 9783389176535
• ISBN (Buch): 9783389176542
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: Subjectivity, Biopolitics, Digital Power, Personhood, Theosis, Political Philosophy, Posthumanism