Panopticism

In his article, Panopticism, Foucault introduces the idea of Bentham’s Panopticon. The Panopticon formed as a way for guards to “watch” over prisoners, however, the structure was built in such a way that prisoners would never know if they were actually being watched or not. This instilled a sense of fear and made them the objects of the vision. Foucault states “hence, the major effect of the Panopitcon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power” (65). The Panopticon was said to be so effective that the bars could be taken off of the cells and the prisoners would not escape.

Foucault relates the idea of Bentham’s Panopticon to our society today. We are either the seer or being seen, in power or not in power. Being seen, as prisoners were, causes us to behave in certain way. For example, knowing there are surveillance cameras in a store we are shopping at causes us to be well behaved. Whether the cameras are actually on is not known to us, however, we are instilled with the same sense of fear as the prisoners by just seeing the cameras. Our behavior is censored because we know we may be being watched.

So what does this say about our existence? Do we believe that we don’t exist unless we appear on film or in an image? As a society our idea of what is real is being shaped by the image. Images become the evidence of our existence in reality. They both change and shape our behavior, just as the behaviors of the prisoners were.