How Greek Antiquity in Foucault allows us to read the Relationship between Capitalism-Democracy

Abstract

The examination of classical Greek philosophy developed by Michel Foucault constitutes a mode of observation, which we can project on our time, hence following some clues about our Neoliberal way of being at the crossroads of capitalism and democracy. This article aims to think the foucaultian analytical style that leads him to take a retrospective leap in his investigations of the ways of capitalism –from the moment of modern times that he called "classical period", inquiring therefrom the capitalism of his own time as well–, to the heladic space, where the western tradition has historically framed its political and cultural origin in view of the Greek polis. Is it possible to think that the late investigations that Foucault was initiating could shed light on an original Greek ethos, which serves as a support to enable a way out of the tautology between capitalism and democracy? Apparently, we can find there the possibility to argue for a critical political reading that is grounded in another ethos, considering that for the Greeks ethics and politics go inseparably together