Bentham's Idea As Foucault example essay topic

In Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault continually discusses ideas of control and power. In a section devoted to what he calls Panopticism, Foucault describes power in terms of Jeremy Bentham's penitentiary, the Panopticon. Physically, Foucault illustrates the Panopticon as a cylindrical building whose center is dominated by a massive tower comprised of many windows. Along the periphery, many cells divide the space.

Each cell is identical with a window to the outside and a corresponding window looking in on the overbearing sight of the tower. The most important aspect of the Panopticon is the idea of observation and surveillance. From the central tower, all is visible; no one is hidden away in dungeon-like enclosures. Each prisoner can be seen and observed but they themselves, conversely, cannot see; the prisoners never know when they are being watched. From this, the Panopticon, in essence, promotes the ideology that power derives from unverifiable observation. "Visibility is a trap".

Bentham's idea, as Foucault describes it, was to eliminate "those compact, swarming, howling masses that were to be found in places of confinement". Each individual is placed in their own room where they can be seen from the front but are confined by themselves, unable to be "a subject in communication". In his design, Bentham brought forth more than a perfect penitentiary where order was present. From his Panopticon arose a theory of power where observation is the key. "He is seen, but he does not see... ", Foucault describes, ."..

And this invisibility is a guarantee of order". The greatness from this idea comes from the fact that constant observation is unnecessary. Foucault makes this idea clear when he says "the surveillance is permanent in its effects even if it is discontinuous in its action; that the perfection of power should tend to render its actual exercise unnecessary". By this, according to Foucault, Bentham laid down "the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable". At any one moment, the inmates should feel as though they are being watched, but should not know whether or not they actually are. This principle of power is genius in the aspect that the inmates actually constrain themselves.

As Foucault says, "He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power". Drawing from it's aspects of observation, the Panopticon allows for differences to show. Foucault relates it to Le Vaux's octagonal menagerie. In the center there was a pavilion with windows facing outwards to section off cages. In them contained various species of animal. Foucault was able to relate this menagerie to his theory of power and the Panopticon.

He explains, "The Panopticon also does the work of a naturalist. It makes it possible to draw up differences". In many ways, the idea of the Panopticon was also a laboratory of power. As Foucault puts it, "It could be used as a machine to carry out experiments, to alter behavior, to train and correct individuals". In terms of the Panopticon, this concept could be used in examining and figuring out what kinds of punishments would work for certain prisoners. In this sense, from power comes knowledge; the more one observes, the more power and control one obtains over another, and the more one knows about the individual they observe.

The Panopticon, or the theory there of, Panopticism, can relate to other aspects of life beyond the penitentiary. In fact, Foucault himself says "Panopticism is a marvelous machine which, whatever use one may wish to put it to, produces homogenous effects of power". In one of Foucault's examples he describes a "director" who spies on all his employees. With this example he explains how the director can observe "all the employees that he has under his orders: nurses, doctors, foremen, teachers, wardens". From examining his employees, the director can enforce his power by judging and altering their behavior as he sees best. In society today, one can find modern examples of Panopticism relative to how Foucault describes it.

For example, businesses have been implementing "secret shoppers". These disguised shoppers encounter employees and test their behaviors and ability to tend to customers. The employees know these "secret shoppers" exist, however, they don't know when they are being assessed. Not knowing when you are being examined makes the employees more likely to do their best as not to be caught performing under par. When confronted by their employers, the employees can be told what they need to improve upon based on what the "secret shopper" observed. In both cases, the observer / director truly has the power.

Feeling like they are being constantly watched, the employees need to be at their best, reflecting the idea unverifiable observation. Furthermore, from these examples, we can see how the theory of Panopticism applies to present day society. Foucault once said that "the Panopticon must be understood as a dream building: it is a diagram of a mechanism of power reduced to its ideal form". In his explanation he is not saying that society needs a Panopticon on every street corner for power and control to exist. In fact he acknowledges that today all citizens are free and can demand changes in society; he agrees with these political ideals. However, Foucault also explains that society cannot take place without these mechanisms of observation and surveillance.

In almost all aspects of society, whether it be in schools, factories, or hospitals, Panopticism exists as an inevitable form of power. Discipline and Punish (chapter titled Panopticism) by Michel Foucault.