Foucault's Fantasy
It is hard for me to be sure what Mr. Foucault was feeling. There are so many ways to look at an essay like this; maybe he felt as a prisoner of the Panopticon because of the constant ridicule he had to face for his sexual preference. Never knowing if he was being observed or frowned upon and facing verbal abuse for his choices. I can understand how these situations could make a person compare his own life to a prison, still I find it hard to believe that this was an essay written with the intent of arousing pity. One classmate suggested the possibility that this was written with a religious intent. I am not yet ready to concede to that idea. To me, it seemed as if the author wanted to convince his readers that the idea of Panopticism is a good idea. Or to defend the idea of Panoptisism from someone who may have criticized the idea. The analogy of the leper and the colony that the lepers confined themselves to was an example of how, in the past, society would leave it to the people being ostracize
I think the functionality of the Panopticon is superb. If you were to get sick, you would receive maximum care because you would be under the never blinking eye of the Panopticon . If no one believes he or she could get away with breaking the rules, then rules wont get broken. The Idea of it as a lifestyle is absurd. d to separate themselves from the rest of society. Another advantage of the Panopticon is the efficiency; once the structure is erected, it practically operates itself. Once the threat of the plague has passed the village is released and allowed to integrate with the rest of society once again. The Panpticon offers these same advantages, but you can reduced the amount of workers necessary to secure a town. I am not sure if this what Foucault was suggesting but I cannot help but feel that Foucault intended to do more than to just educate us on the history of this invention, but also to teach us that this design could be used to efficiently govern a society. The design of the Panopticon allows the fear of what could happen to govern the way the observed ones behave, this eliminates the need for consequences. One central towering figure that would observe all, a surrounding society fearful of what they may be observed doing, therefore being very careful not to do anything that is not approved of. Foucault also stressed the points that the Panopticon is useful for more than just punishing wrongdoers, it helps to develop smarter children whom in turn become diligent workers accomplishing maximum productivity, all because of the Panopticon. This method is similar to the Panopticon because it incorporates the idea that you must cooperate because someone is always watching and someone will always be aware! of any changes in the conditions of the people being observed. I disagree because this would give the power to one figure, and one mans philosophy will not be the next mans. This shows society using force to isolate the minority so that they wont infect the majority.
Common topics in this essay:
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Panopticism Response,
Patterson ENG,
idea defend,
idea defend idea,
defend idea,
rest society,
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