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(I was going to place this post under "The Troubled Euthanasia" thread but once it was written it became obvious that it was more prison system related that anything else.)
A solution to the prison system is possibly Jeremy Bentham's ideology, his "panopticon"-it "incorporates a tower central to an annular building that is divided into cells, each cell extending the entire thickness of the building to allow inner and outer windows. The occupants of the cells . . . are thus backlit, isolated from one another by walls, and subject to scrutiny both collectively and individually by an observer in the tower who remains unseen. Toward this end, Bentham envisioned not only venetian blinds on the tower observation ports but also mazelike connections among tower rooms to avoid glints of light or noise that might betray the presence of an observer." (quote from http://users.rcn.com/mackey/thesis/panopticon.html). It was backed by many, including Michel Foucault, however the government decided against it...it would place the criminals in a situation where (this is the ethical issue) they would not know when they were being watched, or who was watching them, ultimately resulting in some v. paranoid individuals. Bentham also suggested allowing "tours" around the panopticon-in theory paying for itself. Allowing people to see the consequences of crimes. Personally, I thought such a creation would be a success, especially as a deterrent of sort...It could in a way, be another option to "killing the killers".
Would it be easier to simply bring back the death penalty? Or would it be more humane to use a creation such as the panopticon?
A solution to the prison system is possibly Jeremy Bentham's ideology, his "panopticon"-it "incorporates a tower central to an annular building that is divided into cells, each cell extending the entire thickness of the building to allow inner and outer windows. The occupants of the cells . . . are thus backlit, isolated from one another by walls, and subject to scrutiny both collectively and individually by an observer in the tower who remains unseen. Toward this end, Bentham envisioned not only venetian blinds on the tower observation ports but also mazelike connections among tower rooms to avoid glints of light or noise that might betray the presence of an observer." (quote from http://users.rcn.com/mackey/thesis/panopticon.html). It was backed by many, including Michel Foucault, however the government decided against it...it would place the criminals in a situation where (this is the ethical issue) they would not know when they were being watched, or who was watching them, ultimately resulting in some v. paranoid individuals. Bentham also suggested allowing "tours" around the panopticon-in theory paying for itself. Allowing people to see the consequences of crimes. Personally, I thought such a creation would be a success, especially as a deterrent of sort...It could in a way, be another option to "killing the killers".
Would it be easier to simply bring back the death penalty? Or would it be more humane to use a creation such as the panopticon?
