foucault3

The Body of the Condemned: 

The Body of the Condemned Philosophy 157 G. J. Mattey ©2002

Discipline and Punish: 

Discipline and Punish Published in 1975 Topic is the conversion from torture to mere confinement as punishment Sub-theme is the way in which bodies are regulated as the result of power-relations The nexus of these relations is a complex of legal institutions and scientific investigation This will be studied historically, but it applies to the present

Methodology: 

Methodology Regard punishment as a complex social function, with possible positive effects Regard punishment as a political tactic, as specific rather than a consequence of something more general, such as legislation Study penal law and “human sciences” together, looking for a common matrix See whether the new appearance of the “soul” in confinement is a transformation of power-relations in which the body stands

Rusche and Kirchheimer: 

Rusche and Kirchheimer Abandon the idea that severity of punishment is correlated to the end of reducing crime Recognize “concrete systems of punishment” in themselves, not as stemming from the legal system or ethical choices See that punishment has positive effects Correlate modes of punishment with the economic needs of society (slave-labor vs. free labor)

Body and Soul: 

Body and Soul The ostensible object of punishment is “the secret souls of criminals” But it is the body which undergoes punishment The body has been studied scientifically in many ways (biologically, physiologically, demographically) Here, it must be studied in its immediate relations to power

Political Technology of the Body: 

Political Technology of the Body The body is primarily of use economically But to be useful in this way, it must be subjugated Aside from violence and ideology, it may be subjugated physically This involves a “knowledge” of the body, which allows its mastery This is a “microphysics of power” located between the body and the instruments of power

Power over the Body: 

Power over the Body Power is exerted by strategy, and its exercise is modeled by a perpetual battle (as opposed to contract or conquest) Power is transmitted as pressure, rather than exercised through obligations and permissions Power-structures are diffuse and cannot be overthrown all at once But struggle against power is significant only if it affects the larger network of power-relations

Power and Knowledge: 

Power and Knowledge The received view is that knowledge is based on objectivity, which requires withdrawal from power-relations Instead, power produces knowledge At the same time, knowledge is in the service of power The “knowing subject” and “known object” are effects of power-knowledge

Political Anatomy: 

Political Anatomy The relation of the body to power-knowledge might be studied through a “political anatomy” (Petty) This would not be analysis of the state in terms of a body, or the body in terms of a state Instead, it would involve a “body politic” concerned with the means by which power-knowledge invests the human body Penal practices are understood through such a political anatomy

The Greatest and Least Body: 

The Greatest and Least Body Kantorowitz noted that medieval kings were given a double body, including an imperishable one that supports the kingdom We can imagine a second body of the condemned man which is the locus of a discourse of “lack of power” This second body is the “noncorporal soul,” which is the object of punishment It is produced by the exercise of power: “born . . . out of methods of punishment, supervision, and constraint”

The Prison of the Body: 

The Prison of the Body This soul is not the same as the theoretical construct of Christianity If we remove this soul, we do not get “the real man,” but a subjugated man The “soul” of the subjugated man is the object of science and of power, not a locus of freedom It is “the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body”

Prison Revolts: 

Prison Revolts This view of the body of the condemned man is based on observation It is manifest in prison revolts, which occur in all conditions They have as a common target the technology of power over the body, that produces the “soul”