Self Constitution as The Foundation for Leading Ethically: A Foucauldian Possibility
本文挑战道德领导源于领导者良好品格的假设，基于福柯哲学提出领导者需通过自我关怀和勇敢言说主动构成自我，才能成为行使道德能动性的主体，并以奥巴马未能关闭关塔那摩监狱为例说明。
ABSTRACT: This article challenges the assumption that the source of ethical leadership is the well-intentioned leader of good character. Drawing from Michel Foucault’s critical philosophy, it argues that those aspiring to lead ethically must actively constitute themselves in order to become subjects who are free to exercise ethical agency. The practices of self-care ( epimeileisthai sautou ) and courageous speech ( parrhesia ) are introduced as means by which such self-constitution can be approached. The case of US President Barack Obama’s inability to close the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay serves as an illustrative device to ground Foucault’s ideas. The argument enriches a philosophically informed rendering of ethical leadership in three ways: by highlighting the role resistance plays in any leader’s attempts to achieve ethical ends, by demonstrating the importance of an orientation of critique on the part of those aspiring to lead ethically, and by revealing the importance of followers in realizing ethical outcomes.