What is freedom? Is it when you have rights written by law to which you are entitled to? Is it being able to do what you want when you want? Is it freedom from desire as discussed by Irigaray or is it freedom from some sort of individuality? All of these could be correct in a certain way but wrong in another. Michel Foucault discussed the idea of having very limited freedom due to the social structures that are in place within humanity. In the book, “Discipline and Punish,” he examines the different structures that are in place that contribute to punishment and restrict freedom. He also discusses the different types of power in the modern day world and how they contrast with the tradition power of the past, “It was a time of great ‘scandals’ for traditional justice, a time of innumerable projects for reform. It saw a new theory of law and crime, a new moral or political justification to punish; old laws were abolished, old customs died out” (Foucault, page 7). According to Foucault the main denial of freedom is being in prison, the idea of punishing the soul and denying access to the outside world, the reasons for such a conclusion are as follows.
Physical punishments were the panicle of consequences that one had to endure when a law was disregarded by a citizen. Foucault describes a public execution that happened in March 1757, “This last operation was very long because the horses used were not accustomed to drawing; consequently, instead of four, six were needed; and when that did not suffice, they were forced, in order to cut off the wretch’s thighs, to sever the sinews and hack at the joints...” (Foucault 3). This particular idea is rather gruesome, the idea of being drawn and quartered multiply times only to fail and have t...
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...o death in the most painful way imaginable. Some forms included being drawn and quartered, being tortured in the harshest forms, having your skin peeled from your body using red hot pinchers and many more gruesome ways as Foucault mentions. As mankind evolved the idea of justice came into the authority’s decisions when it came to punishment and more humane ways of punishments were devised. On such concept was and still is known as prison. Prison, according to Foucault, is the most restriction that could be placed on an individual’s freedom. Foucault explores the restriction of freedom through prison as well as the contrast between physical punishment and humane punishment and how both have their own bars like a prison. In conclusion, I have discovered that Foucault has come to the correct conclusion that prison is the greatest constraint of an individual’s freedom.
Before any corporal punishment reform had taken place, Foucault argues that those who broke the law frequently were tortured and killed just for the sake of inflicting damage and pain upon the bodies of the criminal before killing them. This act of public torture had become, something of a public ceremony and punishment was directed to the criminal 's body. The audience became participants as they witnessed the punishment while at the same time being terrorized by the torture and punishment of the criminal, Foucault exclaims. Furthermore, it was a way for the king to establish and keep its control over
According to the Collins Dictionary, “freedom” is defined as “the state of being allowed to do what you want to do”(“freedom”). The definition of freedom is simple, but make yourself free is not easy. Concerning about some common cases which will take away your freedom, such as a time-cost high education attainment. In this essay, I shall persuade that everyone should try his or her best to insist on pursuing freedom. For the individual, it appears that only if you have your personal freedom, can you have a dream; for a country, it seems that only if the country is free, can the country develop; for mankind, it looks like that only if people has their own pursuit of freedom, can their thoughts evolve.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Vintage. (Original work published 1975)
Foucault starts out the first chapter, The body of the condemned, by contrasting Damiens gruesome public torture with a detailed schedule of a prison that took place just eighty years later. Foucault is bringing the reader’s attention to the distinct change in punishment put in place in less than a century. It gets the reader to start thinking about the differences between how society used to punish people and the way that we do today. Foucault states that earlier in time the right to punish was directly connected to the authority of the King. Crimes committed during this time were not crimes against the public good, but a personal disrespect to the King himself. The public displays of torture and execution were public affirmations of the King’s authority to rule and to punish. It was after many years when the people subjected to torture suddenly became sympathized, especially if the punishment was too excessive for the crime committed.
(Neufeld 1998: 121) The Kingston Penitentiary may argue from a metaphorical stance that tubbing can be regarded as a form of welfare which aims to reform the individual through the “cleansing of their sins” for instance. On the other hand, Foucault states, “the prisoner’s body becomes less important than the soul” (Neufeld 1998: 98) In these particular situations, the desire for the establishment of power relations trumps all. He solely believes that punishment is necessary for those who have committed a crime because it highlights
The essay “A Hanging” by George Orwell speaks to the reader about the author’s stance on capital punishment. I believe that Orwell was able to communicate his point, without actually saying I’m against capital punishment, through three steps. The first step is to set the mood and bring you into his perspective. From the dreary description of the morning to the slow procession of the condemned man to the gallows, Orwell puts the reader in a mood that conveys the experience of watching a man die. The second step is to compare himself to the condemned man, showing how we are all equal. A life is a life, whether you are a condemned man or not. The third step is to show how everyone tries to cope with the aftermath of the execution. This essay challenged my thoughts about capital punishment and I was forced to answer some questions about it. How do I feel about capital punishment and why do I feel that way? I see capital punishment as wrong because we are all equal and that it goes against human nature to take a life.
It is easier to describe what is not freedom, in the eyes of Rousseau and Marx, than it would be to say what it is. For Rousseau, his concept of freedom cannot exist so long as a human being holds power over others, for this is counter to nature. People lack freedom because they are constantly under the power of others, whether that be the tyrannical rule of a single king or the seething majority which can stifle liberty just as effectively. To be truly free, says Rousseau, there has to be a synchronization of perfect in...
This place was terrible. They took our clothes away, forced hundreds of us into tightly packed rooms, literally stacked on top of one another like a can of sardines. I was missing you all so much and needed you at the time for comfort. I could not stand it anymore as we rocked back and forth, weeping and angry. As I was bleeding terribly, I forced myself to unlock my hands from the chain. At that point I didn’t care how much pain I was in, all I wanted to do was escape. When I finally did escape and free the others, this raging power came upon me to takeover the ship. The others and I killed all but two of the Spanish on the ship. It felt good to let out all the anger that was built up inside of me and I felt accomplished and powerful.
Michel Foucault may be regarded as the most influential twentieth-century philosopher on the history of systems of thought. His theories focus on the relationship between power and knowledge, and how such may be used as a form of social control through institutions in society. In “Truth and Juridical Forms,” Foucault addresses the development of the nineteenth-century penal regime, which completely transformed the operation of the traditional penal justice system. In doing so, Foucault famously compares contemporary society to a prison- “prison is not so unlike what happens every day.” Ultimately, Foucault attempts to exemplify the way in which disciplinary power has become exercised in everyday institutions according to normalization under the authority network of individuals such that all relationships may be considered power relations. Thus, all aspects of society follow the model of a prison based on domination. While all aspects of society take the shape of prison, most individuals may remainignorant of such- perhaps just as they are supposed to. As a result, members of society unconsciously participate in the disciplinary power that aims to “normalize,” thus contributing to and perpetuating the contemporary form of social control. Accordingly, the modern penal regime may be regarded as the most effective system of societal discipline. [OK – SOLID INTRO]
As probably studied in any law or history class, punishment in medieval times consisted of executions, and torture. Simply put, punishment entailed brutality and violence. However, with time, prisons had finally been established. In modern society, punishment is based on imprisonment, meaning a criminal is placed within a cell and kept there for a period of time, yet there are many states and countries that still permit ‘capital punishment’ for harsh crimes. The aim of this form of punishment had been to establish authority, particularly power. According to Foucault, this power means that for example in a penitentiary, there is a guard and a prisoner. The guard evidently has power over the prisoner, as he is the key holder, and he is the one that has the authority to restrain the individual from doing anything and keep him in his cell. Discipline is methods that are used by arranging a person’s actions and their experiences. Jails aim to reform a criminal and to deter crime. To reform means to transform the criminal to fit society’s norms and standards. In addition, a goal they have is to de...
“Our society is not one of spectacle, but of great surveillance; it is rather that the individual is carefully fabricated in it, according to a whole technique of forces and bodies” (pp.333-34). Foucault’s argument may not be understood with his difficulty of writing, but with the examples and proof of such a mind-game that we live in our society today is a good way to understand his point of judgement. We live in a society that watches over one’s movement to arbiter if their behavior or movement is wrong. We have many secret services in our world today that know more about us than we know ourselves. It is an ultimate fear, anxiety, and affliction that we live-out our lives everyday.
Michel Foucault theses focuses on disciplinary societies, the idea of creating docile bodies to use them, improve them or change them. Societies achieved this by using the concept of the Panopticon, the idea of surveilling them, people will be aware that they are being watched in schools, prison or hospitals but won’t know when. This prevents people from doing any unethical activity since they don’t know when they are being watched. Panopticism disciplined bodies without the use of punishment from authorities, it deals with the presence of an authoritative figure for surveillance measure only. In today’s era, we are no longer in a disciplinary society, but in a control society. We are being controlled, not as we once were by discipline
George Orwell’s essay called, A Hanging, describes how he sees capital punishment inhumane to all parties. The essay is structured like a story to convey his point clearly in a way a regular essay cannot. The story follows the narrator as he finally sees a prisoner that he describes in an inhumane to be someone that still has a will to live.
...eded to be punished so they could remain docile. The film gave many scenes that helped to understand Foucault’s arguments that were expressed in Seidman’s reading and in Foucault’s reading, “The Carceral”. Foucault’s argument that power works in a disciplinary way in current society was greatly analyzed in this film because it used a psychiatric ward that had nurses, and other people of authority, who had the power to punish. Having the power to punish and having produced docile bodies are techniques that Foucault would describe as using the, “disciplinary technique”, that is talked about in his, “The Carceral”, chapter of the book, “Discipline and Punish”.
It is very imperative to realize that freedom is perceived in two different forms. To start with, in the literal formal, freedom is viewed as negative and thus formal. “In this case, it implies being free from being a subject to the control by other people, being exempted from activities that may seem to be a bondage or even the capability to act in a manner that is completely free from the control or interference by other people” (Passy 1974). On the other hand, there is a case of effective freedom. Effective freedom is usually more concerned about being excused from conditions that may seem to restrain