Michel Foucault's Panopticism Essay Example

In Michael Foiucault's "Panopticism" he breaks down our social/economical systems and explains societies mentality on the law system. He answers the "why's" in the way certain individuals act and think as they do. Many times his explanation is very much branched off of J. Bentham's "Panopticon". In one paragraph of "Panopticism", a disciplinary mechanism is described, which is considered the best way for one to be punished, in that new knowledge and learning is gained by every individual. In this paragraph on page 316, Foucault explains how he feels a person should be disciplined and he looks at it from many different angles. "This enclosed, segmented space, observed at every point, in which the individuals are inserted in a fixed place, in which the slightest movements are supervised, in which all events are recorded in which an uninterrupted work of writing links the center and periphery, in which power is exercised without division, according to a continuous hierarchical figure, in which each individual is constantly located, examined, and distributed among the living beings, the sick, and the dead-all this constitutes a compact model of the disciplinary mechanism." In this first sentence of the paragraph a description of how closely watched and evaluated the individuals are. All movements all actions everything would be analyzed. This is how he feels a disciplinary mechanism should be and is a key model for all to follow. In disciplining that way it would make the individual a better person, "excercising power without division" is an example. "The plague is met by order; its function is to sort out every possible confusion: that of the disease, which is transmitted when bodies are mixed together; that of the evil, which is increased when fear and death overcome prohibitions." Disease, definitely a confusion in our society when two or more people come together. Evil becomes very overwhelming when it can not be controlled or prevented. With the help of this