Re: Panopticon Reversed

Di I ever agree with you, Cordelia. At the bottom of all this, IMHO, the
Iraq war is a continuation of the centuries-old war between Islam against
the Judeo-Christian religion that has been going on since the seventh
century (African wars, wars in Spain. in the Balkans, Iran, etc) with locals
lapses. Oil comes as another incentive for oil-interest-elected Bush. It's a
most dangerous and vicious war precisely because it is religious, and we're
far from having seen the end of it. . How many presidents, like George W.
Bush, open their officials meetings with a collective prayer?

But maybe I'm getting off-topic here. Hi group. I'm a new member, if you
will accept me. I am very interested in Foucault. He has one of the most
relevant thought in this world today. I have read his main 'historical' (or
genealogical) books, not his philosophy books. I'm very intersted in his
views on sexuality, power-knowledge, insanity and the correctional and
clinical worlds.

I'm just a dilettante, not a learned scholar like you people, but I can't
believe how intelligent this list is. I am so happy to have found it.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cordelia Chu" <raccoon@xxxxxxx>
To: "foucault" <foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 6:51 AM
Subject: RE: Panopticon Reversed


> "It is ugly to be punishable, but there is no glory in punishing. Hence
that
> double system of
> protection that justice has set up between itself and the punishment it
> imposes. Those who carry
> out the penalty tend to become an autonomous sector, justice is relieved
of
> responsibility for it by
> a bureaucratic concelment of the penalty itself." (Discipline_and_Punish,
pp.
> 10)
>
> It's a very bad idea to place the tortured body under the spotlight, it
> reverses the roles and make
> the criminal an object of pity or admiration, breaking down solidarity.
> Modern penal justice
> system replaces punishment with the trial and prosecution process as the
> spectacle, it's the
> certainty of punishment (and not the horrifying sovereign power over the
body)
> that disciplines.
>
> Politicial Institution presented liberty as "reason" to wage war, "those
who
> commit terrorism will
> certainly be punished" -- the war is "legit" as long as the American
> aggression doesn't exceed the
> crime of the terrorists. You can't have a sovereign government and
> "liberated" lifestyle at the same
> time.
>
> This confirms my subjective view that freedom is a myth; a rosy picture of
> "liberty" is presented to
> public, only because consent is always more useful than coercion. There
is no
> such thing as a war
> for liberty or a war against terrorism; it's a war between Islamic
religion
> and Judeo-Christian
> religion.
>
> Just my opinionated 5 cents (due to inflation).
>
> -Cordelia
>
> ---------------------------
> The belief in truth is precisely madness - Nietzsche
>
> I had been mad enough to study reason - Foucault
>


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