The History of Sexuality, Volume 2: The Use of Pleasure

Michel Foucault shifts his investigation from the modern medicalization of sex to the ethical practices of Classical Greece. He examines how Athenian citizens managed their physical desires through the concept of enkrateia, or self-mastery. Instead of viewing sexual acts through the lens of sin or universal law, the Greeks evaluated them based on the individual's ability to exercise moderation and maintain social status. Foucault analyzes specific frameworks such as dietetics, economics, and erotics to show how the "use of pleasure" functioned as a deliberate technique of self-fashioning and personal discipline.

This volume serves scholars of ancient history, philosophers, and sociologists focused on the origins of Western ethics. Readers gain an understanding of how moral systems can exist without relying on religious prohibitions or legal codes. By examining the transition from Greek self-regulation to Christian asceticism, the reader learns to view modern identity not as a biological fact, but as a historical construction of subjective experience. The text provides a clear model for analyzing how personal conduct intersects with political power.