Bentham's panopticon (was "Liberal" thinkers)

[David Simpson]

You're being awfully hard on "liberals" in general and old JB in particular. For one thing, you ignore the fact that, as Bentham originally conceived it, the panopticon was designed to allow public inspectors (in the manner of the Red Cross and the Geneva agreements) to come in and, while unobserved themselves, observe the treatment of prisoners. In short, the panopticon offered a way of holding prison workers accountable to outside officials -- and of insuring that the prisoners themselves were being humanely treated.

That this same system could be used for totalitarian control instead of public accountability should remind us (1) that all "liberal" ideas can be turned to illiberal purposes and (2) that, since every tool can be used as a weapon, all technologies are double-edged.

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"A Last Judgment is necessary because fools flourish." -- Wm. Blake.
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Home Page: http://www.depaul.edu/~dsimpson