> [!NOTE] The Rise and Demise of the Modern Moral Self > `Author:` Ladelle McWhorter `Availability:` ## Summary ## Key Takeaways McWhorter examines how the Western notion of a **“moral self”**—a coherent, disciplined individual who monitors and corrects their own behaviour—was historically constructed, and how it is now unraveling. Drawing on Foucault, genealogy, and queer theory, she shows that this self was not a universal human form but a **[[Politics|political]] and disciplinary project** that emerged alongside modern power. --- ## **Core Argument** ### **1. The moral self as a historical construction** The modern subject—rational, self-controlled, and morally accountable—was shaped by **Christian moral theology**, early-modern disciplinary institutions, and Enlightenment notions of autonomy. This self-conception presents itself as natural, but McWhorter demonstrates that it was produced through **specific practices of regulation**, such as confession, surveillance, bodily [[discipline]], and the policing of desire. ### **2. [[Morality]] as a [[Technology]] of normalisation** The book emphasises that moral identity worked as a **normalising force**. To be a moral person meant to conform to dominant expectations regarding: - sexuality, - [[Family]] life, - race, - public comportment, - self-restraint, and - bodily habits. Becoming a “person” in the moral sense often required **excluding** or **correcting** aspects of oneself that did not fit prevailing norms. ### **3. Unbecoming as liberation** McWhorter argues for the value of **“unbecoming persons”**—a process of loosening oneself from the moralised norms that shape how one lives, desires, and understands oneself. Rather than securing a stable moral identity, she explores ways of living where identity is less rigid, less policed, and more open to [[Index/Dictionary/contingency]], embodiment, and relationality. ### **4. The decline of the modern moral self** She suggests the modern moral self is losing its coherence under contemporary conditions: shifting social norms, the destabilisation of traditional institutions, and new forms of embodiment and [[Community]] have made the old disciplinary forms less persuasive. This “demise” is not a crisis but an opportunity to cultivate **non-normative, non-authoritarian forms of selfhood**. --- ## **Intellectual Position** The book sits at the intersection of: - Foucault’s genealogical method, - feminist theory, - queer theory, - and ethical philosophy. It is not merely critical; it proposes an ethics that resists the compulsion to fit established models of personhood. --- If you would like, Lord Thomas, I can also prepare: - a shorter capsule summary, - an analysis of how it relates to Foucault’s _History of Sexuality_, - or key quotations that capture her argument. ## Quotes - ## Notes > [!info] > ![[Unbecoming Persons.jpg]] `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:` ## Highlights