Voluntary insubmission: tyranny, servitude, and freedom in La Boétie

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36517/Argumentos.24.16

Keywords:

Tyranny. Servitude. Freedom. La Boétie

Abstract

In times of authoritarian escalation around the globe, in which the autocratic structures that surround us sometimes seem too colossal, it can be beneficial to mobilize authors capable of offering not only ways of coping with tyranny, but ways that are within the reach of the individual. Étienne de La Boétie's “Discourse on Voluntary Servitude”, I believe, falls within this perspective. Among other things, it provides powerful tools to face tyranny, taking as a starting point the tyrannized ones, the individuals themselves. In this sense, by examining the notions of tyranny, servitude and freedom, the present article wishes to explore this interpretation of La Boétie's work.

 

Author Biography

Marcio Pereira, UFC

Doutor em Filosofia pela Universidade de São Paulo e em Direito pela Queen´s University (doutorado em cotutela). Professor da Universidade Federal do Ceará. Área de atuação: Filosofia Política.

References

CHAUI, M. Amizade, Recusa do Servir. Em: LA BOÉTIE, E. Discurso da servidão voluntária. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1999.

DELEUZE, G.; GUATTARI, F. O Anti-Édipo. Capitalismo e esquizofrenia. São Paulo, Ed. 34, 2010.

GROS, F. Desobedecer. São Paulo: Ubu, 2018.

HOBBES, T. Leviatã ou matéria, forma e poder de um Estado eclesiástico e civil. 3ª ed. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1983.

KURZ, H. Montaigne and La Boétie in the Chapter on Friendship. Modern Language Association, Nova York, volume 65, número 4, 1950, pp. 483-530.

LA BOÉTIE, E. Discurso da servidão voluntária. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1999.

MELVILLE, H. Bartleby, o escrevente. Uma história de Wall Street. São Paulo: Autêntica, 2015.

NEWMAN, S. ‘Critique Will Be the Art of Voluntary Inservitude’. Foucault, La Boétie and the Problem of Freedom. FUGGLE, S. et al. Foucault and the History of Our Present. Londres: Palgrave Macmillam, 2015.

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Published

2020-08-03

Issue

No. 24 (2020)

Section

Artigos

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