Abstract
SUMMARY This paper addresses the Kantian theory of the subject which is found in contemporary social work discourse on ethics and values. It is argued here that the Kantian idea of persons as (i) rational, (ii) autonomous, and (iii) ends-in-themselves is wholly inadequate to the social work doctrine of 'respect for persons'. To show this, we counterpose a Foucauldian view of history, moral codes and theory of the person, and the meaning this can have in the social worker-client relation. This alternative reading claims that social work is essentially a political practice which is constructed by various discursive and institutional strategies of power. Therefore, it is suggested that social work needs a political reading of its own discourse. To this end we outline a Foucauldian micro-political analysis of the social work 'subject' or person as a point within a field of discursive-knowledge based strategies. Though many social work training courses involve some study of moral or social philosophy one may doubt whether students, on what is a highly
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