Summary:
The concept of ‘subject’ has always existed, but in the past it was called individual, person or mainly soul. Descartes introduces the concept of the subject as a predetermined, thinking entity, responsible for the formation of all concepts. Subsequently, all traditional considerations of modernity place the starting point of knowledge in the certainty of the Ego cogito: the rational subject and pure thinking.
Most theories of the subject refer to a pre-existing, given, unitary and compact self with certain stable characteristics throughout its existence. However, there are now many theories that argue that such a self does not exist, but is formed historically based on the action, radical reflection and creative imagination of the individual.
In any case and despite all the conflicting theories, the modern perception is based on the constant demand for subjectivity and autonomy and turns passionately towards the self-realization, that is, the discovery or creation of the "authentic self".
This paper traces the history of the subject in Western Philosophy, with an emphasis on the genealogy of Nietzsche, whose line of interpretation begins with the pre-Socratic Heraclitus, passes through the rationalist Spinoza, continues with the postmodern thinkers, and reaches the contemporary Byung-Chul Han – without remaining the same for a single moment.
