Discipline and Punish

Genius!

Stimulating and interesting.

Foucault foi sem dúvida um dos maiores filósofos da modernidade e será sem dúvida no decorrer do tempo ainda mais reconhecido.

Foucault's seminal text is so much more than a penetrating analysis of the geneaology of the modern penal system. The argument he advances-with all the profundity and subtlety that became his trademarks-is that the prison is simply a paradigmatic struture in society; one whose model originated and was adapted as the Western intellectual tradition moved into modernity. Most of the thinkers he...more

Foucault's seminal text is so much more than a penetrating analysis of the geneaology of the modern penal system. The argument he advances-with all the profundity and subtlety that became his trademarks-is that the prison is simply a paradigmatic struture in society; one whose model originated and was adapted as the Western intellectual tradition moved into modernity. Most of the thinkers he cites are representatve-if obscure-polemicists and public intellectuals. The paradigmatic tradition Foucault seeks to deconstrcut is utilitarianism; famously embodied here in Benthams design for the Panopticon. This prison would be so designed as to render violence unecessary in the enforcement of discipline. Instead, the disciplinary power of the prison would homogenize and become self-reinforcing by shifting its focus from the body to the mind as well. This analysis showcases Foucault's originality-he goes beyond Nietzsche to develop a full account of the way in which both empirical and transcendental discourses can be tired to history and ramify themselves in social spaces. That is why he was so much more than a mere critic. This book is well researched, provocative and virtually begs for imitation and extension. That very few have attempted critique on the scale and level of Foucault are a testament to his capabilities-even if the world would benefit from the effort.   hide

Amazing. Sometimes a bit gross, when he goes in to how we defiled 'the body' in the name of punishment in order to send out a message to the many, a form of control. The chapters covering the birth of the panopticon designed buildings/institutions was a fascinating insight into the subtleties of power and control relationships.

Still brill. In Spanish it is called Watch and punish...and in English it really should be called punish and discipline since that is the direction of the historical transformation he describes! But it does not have the same ring to it. What was it called in french? I better check the inside cover...Each time I read it I get something new from it, or maybe I just remember what I forgot...

A fascinating text which traces the evolution of punishment from being a public spectacle characterised by vicious torture to being a system of incarceration in the 17th and 18th centuries. Foucault's work describes how modes of classification and examination practiced in schools, hospitals and asylums were the products of and legitimisers of power relations-norms were constructed and those who...more

A fascinating text which traces the evolution of punishment from being a public spectacle characterised by vicious torture to being a system of incarceration in the 17th and 18th centuries. Foucault's work describes how modes of classification and examination practiced in schools, hospitals and asylums were the products of and legitimisers of power relations-norms were constructed and those who departed from norms were labelled and often punished on the basis of 'scientific' standards. He identifies this classification as heralding the birth of the diciplinary society. Ultimately the book outlines how punishment metamorphisised from working on the body to working on the soul.   hide

Wow! As an introduction to Foucault this will truly whet your appetite. Knowledge, Power, Hierarchies,and even a little torture, what more could you want?

I'm not much for post-modernism, but this is a must-read