Panopticism Reading

“The plague is met by order; its function is to set out every possible confusion: that of the disease, which is transmitted when bodies mix together; that of the evil, which is increased when fear and death overcome prohibitions. ” Here Foucault sets out a very complex and pertinent look at the disciplinary system and how it pertains to quarantine. I found this very interesting because Foucault has a response of calm, cool order even to mass chaos of disease. This shows how persuasive rhetoric can be.

“Each individual, in his place, is securely confined to a cell from which he is seen from the front by a supervisor; but the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions. He is seen; but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject of communication.” I found this passage very interesting because it plays on the mental and emotional health of the subjects which is a very scary form of punishment that is widely practiced today. When you have a feeling of someone always watching you, it can play on an individuals actions strongly. VMI has some relevancy to this.

I had some trouble understanding what Foucault was talking about when he kept referencing lepers and their ostracism from society. “The leper was caught up in the practice of rejection.”

At one point near the end, Foucault says that panopticism can be applied to a variety of situations. One he offers to the audience is medical treatment. I am not entirely sure how this is applicable.