Selfhood itself is constituted by the acknowledgment of dominating power

Evidence

The awakening of the self is paid for by the acknowledgement of power as the principle of all relations. In view of the unity of this ratio, the divorcement between God and man dwindles to the degree of irrelevancy to which unswervable reason has drawn attention since even the earliest critique of Homer. The creative god and the systematic spirit are alike as rulers of nature. Man’s likeness to God consists in sovereignty over existence, in the countenance of the lord and master, and in command. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 36

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that the price of selfhood is submission to power-as-principle — subject and domination born together — resists one-sentence summary.
• XREF: Resonates with Foucault’s later account of the subject constituted through power relations. — connects to: Power produces the individual rather than merely repressing it — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 301; Submission to external authority can constitute rather than constrain the self; Identity construction of self and other is a political contest over power — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 838 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Power produces the individual rather than merely repressing it #corroborates (0.90) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 301
• Submission to external authority can constitute rather than constrain the self #corroborates (0.88)
• The individual is an effect of power, not its presupposed target #corroborates (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 48
• Power produces subjects and desires rather than merely repressing them #corroborates (0.85) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 131
• Possession defends the self against the Other’s power to define it #contradicts (0.75)
• Identity construction of self and other is a political contest over power #expands (0.70) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 838