The Panopticon Writings (Radical Thinkers)

Amazon.com Price: $14.63 (as of 05/12/2019 15:29 PST- Details)

Categories: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Description

The Panopticon project for a model prison obsessed the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham for nearly 20 years. In any case, the project came to nothing; the Panopticon used to be never built. But it is precisely this that makes the Panopticon project the most efficient exemplification of Bentham’s own theory of fictions, according to which non-existent fictitious entities can have all too real effects. There is probably no building that has stirred more philosophical controversy than Bentham’s Panopticon. The Panopticon isn’t merely, as Foucault thought, “a cruel, ingenious cage”, in which subjects collaborate in their own subjection, but a lot more—constructing the Panopticon produces not only a prison, but also a god within it. The Panopticon is a machine which on assembly is already inhabited by a ghost. It is through the Panopticon and the closely related theory of fictions that Bentham has made his greatest affect on modern thought; above all, on the theory of power. The Panopticon writings are ceaselessly cited, rarely read. This edition contains the complete “Panopticon Letters”, along side selections from “Panopticon Postscript I” and “Fragment on Ontology”, Bentham’s fullest account of fictions. A comprehensive introduction by Miran Bozovic explores the place of Panopticon in up to date theoretical debate.

Related products

Home » Shop » Books » Subjects » Politics and Social Sciences » Politics and Government » Political Science » History and Theory » The Panopticon Writings (Radical Thinkers)

Recent Products