An Eye for an Eye: Justification or Codification, Michel Foucault

1482 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The code of hammurabi

“Justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions.” The philosopher Michel Foucault explains the delicate balance of the justice systems with society. We have grown accustom to our way of crime and punishment in the United States. It handles the situations in a way of treating everyone as equals. Hammurabi’s code relies on more of a crime fits the punishment method. The common code, an eye for an eye, shows how seriously strict Hammurabi’s code can be. Should punishment be handled like we do in today’s society, in a humane way, or a brute force method? Without a doubt, history shows that human nature causes us to desire power, and usually ends in criminal actions. Punishment comes from the government and how it is handled. Is the United States implementing their job or do we need to go back to a stricter code?
In Mesopotamia, about two thousand years ago, two civilizations began to thrive. Both cultures were very old and prospered long before the bible was written, as well as before the Greeks and Romans flourished. One that emerged was the civilization of Babylonia, in the southern part near the Persian Gulf (Giokaris, Amalia). It was there that an impressive City began to grow. The ancient city of Babylon was a walled city, with networks of canals. To go along with this architecture, there were green crops surrounding the city. In the middle of the square was a giant 300 foot high ziggurat, filled with plants and sculptures. People lived inside the wall that surrounded the city, where they had lavish sized homes. Even the lowest class had typically three levels of living space. Traders filled the streets with fresh fruit, baked b...

... middle of paper ...

....
Fales, Evan. "Review of Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of
Human Nature by Larry Arnhart." Review of Darwinian Natural Right:
The Biological Ethics of Human Nature by Larry Arnhart. The Secular
Web, 1998. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Giokaris, Amalia. "Hammurabi, King of Babylon." Hammurabi, King of Babylon. Web
Chron: The Web Chronology Project, 2003. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
“Hammurabi.” Ancient Encyclopedia History. 2004. Web. 16 Jan. 2014
“Hammurabi’s Code.” US History. 2014. Web 16 Jan. 2014
“Hermann, Claude.” Fordham University. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910. Web 16 Jan.
2014.
Kehen, William, PHD. "United States Government, Part One.". Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Souvay, Charles. "Hammurabi." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 16 Jan. 2014
“U.S. Constitution.” Cornell University Law School. 1992. Web. 16 Jan. 2014

Show More
Related

  • Penitionism In David Boonin's The Problem Of Punishment

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    Have you ever wonder if there is any good justification for the policy of punishing people for breaking laws? Boonin’s definition of punishment consists of Authorized, Reprobative, Retributive, Intentional Harm. The problem of punishment incorporates three different answers. Consequentialism, which makes punishment beneficial (will do good for the people later in the future). Retributivism punishment is a fitting response to crime. As well as, the option of ‘other’ punishment can be a source of education, or expressive matter. Moreover a fourth answer can be an alternative called restitution, punishment is not necessary for social order. In The Problem of Punishment, by David Boonin deeply studies a wide range of theories that explain why the institutions is morally permitted to punish criminals. Boonin argues that no state , no-one succeeds with punishment. To make his argument stronger, he endorses abolitionism, the view

    Read More

  • Of The Indivitual In Discipline And Punish By Michel Foucault

    2705 Words  | 6 Pages

    Among the books discussed over the duration of the course, the most recurrent theme has been the dominance of power relationships and the construction of institutions driven by power. The framework for these socially ingrained power relationships that has been transformed over time has been laid out by Michel Foucault in his book Discipline and Punish. According to Foucault, power is everywhere, dispersed in institutions and spread through discourses. The state functions on a number of dispositions which are hierarchical, naturalized and are the modes of power for the power elite. The result of this social and economic control is observed in nations and across nations through the beauty myth, the prison system, the creation of informal systems or the overarching cultural hegemony and attempted reform of the non-western world. The key to the success of this has been through the misrecognition of the constructed systems of power which are instated through very fundamental mediums that they are not questioned. These structures of control by the state are adopted and reproduced from the base of the familiar, through arrangements and dispositions that pose themselves as natural, as they are embodied and programmed in the play of language, in common sense, and in all what is socially taken for granted. In this essay I will examine these above mentioned structures of the power and how these models are used to discipline individuals and states.

    Read More

  • Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia and Egypt are important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. Mesopotamia was the first civilization, which was around 3000 B.C., and all other countries evolved from it. Mesopotamia emerged from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The soil was rich and agriculture was plentiful. The Semitic nomads occupied the land around Akkad. The Sumerians established the city-states. Villages became urban centers. Because of the formation of the city-states everything flourished. However, Mesopotamian agriculture lacked stones; therefore mud brick became their major building block. Their diet consisted of fish from the rivers. The rivers were flooded frequently destroyed the cities. Mesopotamians made their living from crops and pottery.

    Read More

  • Criminal Justice

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    The governance of our present day public and social order co-exist within the present day individual. Attempts to recognize the essentiality of equality in hopes of achieving an imaginable notion of structure and order, has led evidence based practitioners such as Herbert Packer to approach crime and the criminal justice system through due process and crime control. A system where packer believed in which ones rights are not to be infringed defrauded or abused was to be considered to be the ideal for procedural fairness. “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson pg 9 cjt To convict an individual because proper consideration was not taken will stir up social unrest rather then it’s initial intent, when he or she who has committed the crime is not punished for their doings can cause for a repetition and even collaboration with other’s for a similar or greater crime.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Michel Foucault

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Is Michel Foucault a historian or not? At the beginning of the analysis on Foucault’s historical analysis, what should be acknowledged is that none of Foucault’s works refer to his previous ones and every work is based upon a new construction of theory and method which shakes the standard norms of history writing and put his methods under suspicion by some historians. On the other hand, many others favor his work; because of Foucault’s specific approach, Gutting calls him as an ‘intellectual artisan’ who was an expert of producing intellectual equivalents of material objects and especially three kinds of them which are history, theory and myth. (Gutting 1996, 3-6) Thomas Flynn answers this question by claiming that Foucault’s all major works are histories of a

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Justice In 'The Stranger' By Albert Camus

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    Albert Camus believed that the details of true justice are an internal affair, but if society wishes to remain organized it must ignore the introspective ideals of Camus and must focus on the physical world, because a shift in culture ] involving nothing but self-evaluation and self-implicated justice would reset humanity’s progress back towards the 13th century when the mighty Mongols ruled so much of a lawless Asia. Laws are essentially the world’s governments enforcing their beliefs onto it’s citizens and telling them how they are supposed to live their

    Read More

  • Stripped of Humanity: Are Prison Systems Helpful or Rather Harmful?

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    For centuries, prisons have been attempting to reinforce good behavior through various methods of punishment, some more severe than others. There are several types of punishments which include “corporal punishment, public humiliation, penal bondage, and banishment for more severe offenses, as well as capital punishment”(Linklater, V). Punishments in which are more severe pose the question “Has it gone too far?” and is stripping away the rights and humanity of a criminal justified with the response it is for the protection of the people? Is justice really served? Although prison systems are intense and the experience is one of a kind for sure, it does little to help them as statistics show “two-in-five inmates nationwide return to jail within three years of release”(Ascharya, K).

    Read More

  • Comparing Gilgamesh Epic, Nile-Documents, And Hymn

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mesopotamia was the first primordial, and influential cradle of civilization. Nestled in the valleys of the vehement Tigris-Euphrates Rivers around the time of the Lower Paleolithic period

    Read More

  • Herbert Morris's Theory Of Punishment

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Herbert Morris and Jean Hampton both view punishment as important to a healthy society. However, their views on what kind of role does punishment plays in a healthy society are vastly different. Morris believes that when one commits a crime they “owe a debt to the society and the person they wronged” and, therefore the punishment of that person is retributive, and a right for those who committed this wrong (270). Hampton, on the other hand, believes that punishment is a good for those who have strayed in the path of being morally right. Out of the two views presented, I believe that Hampton view is more plausible, and rightly places punishment as a constructive good that is better suited for society than Morris’s view.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Babylon

    381 Words  | 1 Pages

    Babylon is even home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They are in the plalace of Nebuchadnezzar II. The gardens were built on 23 metre tall and being water by a very complicated watering system, the water being provided by The Euphrates River. They were a mountain like series of planted terraces. Excavations have found the elaborate pully system watering the gardens right up to the top terrace.

    Read More

  • The Politics of Truth an Essay by Michel Foucault

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay “The Politics of Truth”, Michel Foucault examines what critique is. Foucault begins his explanation of critique by relating it to Immanuel Kant’s definition of enlightenment. In the essay “What is Enlightenment” Kant argues that society has developed an “immaturity” that relies on the direction of authority. Kant states “If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need to exert myself at all” (3). Kant believes that this “immaturity” leads to society being constrained. Kant believes that “the public’s use of one’s own reason must always be free, and it alone can bring about enlightenment” (4). Kant provides an example of a tax payer who pays his taxes but questions them as well. Kant states that the taxpayer “[civic duty is to] publicly express his thoughts regarding the impropriety or even injustice of such taxes” (5). In Kant’s example, a connection can be made to Foucault’s argument “what is critique?” Foucault’s examination of critique begins with his question “how to be governed like that” (44)? Foucault uses this question and its connection to Kant’s “Enlightenment” to critically look at the history of “power and knowledge”.

    Read More

  • The History Of Criminal Justice

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    The definition of justice and the means by which it must be distributed differ depending on an individual’s background, culture, and own personal morals. As a country of many individualistic citizens, the United States has always tried its best to protect, but not coddle, its people in this area. Therefore, the criminal justice history of the United States is quite extensive and diverse; with each introduction of a new era, more modern technologies and ideals are incorporated into government, all with American citizens’ best interests in mind.

    Read More

  • The role of god in the ancient world

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    The questions about the existence of life and the creation of the world are always mind-boggling and fascinating, however, the real answer to these questions may never surface. All there is to rely on are the myths, stories and legends passed on from generation to generation by ancestors and the clues they have left. This essay will try to uncover the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew views on existence and creation by looking at sources like the Genesis and other ancient Mesopotamian texts and poems. Mesopotamians and Hebrews had contrasting views on how they explained the events in their lives, and through analysis of ancient sources, those differences will be outlined. In such populated and booming areas, human conflict was inevitable and some of the law codes that were placed in effect to establish order within the society will be examined. Throughout it all, god and religion played a central role in these ancient civilizations.

    Read More

  • Does The Punishment Fit The Crime?

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society, along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime, are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfare and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years. Crime constructs us as a society whilst society, simultaneously determines what is criminal. Since society is always changing, how we see crime and criminal behavior is changing, thus the way in which we punish those criminal behaviors changes.

    Read More

  • The Purpose of Punishment in a Modern Society

    2222 Words  | 5 Pages

    Punishment has been in existence since the early colonial period and has continued throughout history as a method used to deter criminals from committing criminal acts. Philosophers believe that punishment is a necessity in today’s modern society as it is a worldwide response to crime and violence. Friedrich Nietzche’s book “Punishment and Rehabilitation” reiterates that “punishment makes us into who we are; it creates in us a sense of responsibility and the ability to take and release our social obligations” (Blue, Naden, 2001). Immanuel Kant believes that if an individual commits a crime then punishment should be inflicted upon that individual for the crime committed. Cesare Beccaria, also believes that if there is a breach of the law by individuals then that individual should be punished accordingly.

    Read More

More about An Eye for an Eye: Justification or Codification, Michel Foucault

Open Document