Analysis Of Michel Foucault's Discipline And Punishment

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In Discipline & Punish, Michel Foucault criticizes the penal system in which discipline and punishment have shifted from corporal to the mind and soul. Foucault argues that the implementation of prisons over torture has not made it more humane for the criminal, it has, however, transition the punishment from the body to the soul. While the reader holds the very eloquently title book, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison, Foucault’s argument is feed to the reader long before the first chapter is read. “The Birth of the Prison” indicates that the evolution of punishment is imminent. While Foucault narrates a public execution that took place in France of 1757, The reader is forced to recognize Foucault argument at a subconscious level.
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 …show more content…

Discipline was achieved by a technique were miniature movements was forced upon the body to control the body and its operations. Foucault explains that to have complete control over someone, the subject needs to be under total observation. Foucault states that during the observation “stage,” the subject is compelled to do something while constantly being observed. During this stage the subject will notice the constant observer and be self-conscious and eventually the observer can change the subjects

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