Torture in Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

Michel Foucault was considered as a postmodernist philosopher. He was known to expose the changing nature of human institutions. In the book Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, Foucault revealed the evolution of social correction and discipline. Torture was part of this evolution and it disappeared due to the swop in the billet. In the 18th nose candy, twist was routined as a punishment for feloniouss and the public display of violence was done in an effort to discourage crime and show the power of monarchy. In the 19th century, power was shifted to the soul.As a result, changes in correctional methods were do. In Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, Michel Foucault used the bang of torture to illustrate the change in power and prove the arbitrary nature of disciplinary institutions. In the book, Foucault began his word on torture with the gruesome account of the execution of Damiens the regicide on March 1, 1757 (Foucault, 1977). The details given pr ovide a horrifying picture the criminal, who was clothed with only a shirt, had his flesh torn with the use of pincers.After the flesh was removed, a combination of hot molten lead, oil, resin, sulfur and wax was poured on his body. Initially, it was planned that the body would be torn with the help of horses, which would be force apart. When this plan did not work, the executioner named Samson had to sever the joints. After the limbs were pulled away, the body was burnt to ashes (Foucault, 1977). According to Foucault, torture as punishment was a judicial ritual (Foucault, 1977). To fully understand the notion of torture, it is important to consider the historical context from which it was taken.Foucault wrote that torture had been practiced since the antiquated times and was a significant part of ancient legal procedures. In the 18th century, the monarchical form of government and feudalism was prevalent (Sarup, 1993). The king possessed absolute power, and he manifested this p ower on his subjects. At that point in history, the crime was perceived as similar to sacrilege. This perception was the reason why punishment became the ritual which was not created for the purpose of reform it was make with the intention to uphold the sacredness of a law which had been broken by the criminal (Sarup, 1993).Hence, torture was ineffective as punishment because reform was not its objective. Foucault pointed out that torture was not merely a judicial ritual it was also political in nature (Foucault, 1977). Public execution, like the case of Damiens, involved the participation of sovereign. By committing a crime, the criminal had offended the sovereignty. As a response to the offensive activity, the sovereign would inflict harm on the body of the criminal. Torture was the means in which the offense of the criminal against the sovereign can be undone (Foucault, 1977). Torture as a method of punishment focused on the body.He explained that torture allowed the body of the criminal to reveal the right of the crime (Foucault, 1977). In the brutal ceremony of torture, the body of the offender would create and recreate the truth of the offense. In the context of Damiens execution, his torture presented the truth of the parricide he committed. The authorities relied on the effect on the body to achieve the desired outcome. They believed that the viewing public would react accordingly to the execution they thought that the idle display will decrease the number of crimes because the audience would be overcome with fear.However, this was not the case. The public had a different reaction. The body of the criminal became the source of pity. or else of feeling fear after witnessing the torture, they felt sympathy for the criminal. The broadsheets which documented the details of the crime and the punishment did not succeed in preventing crime quite a, it succeeded in arousing respect from the public. The accounts depicted the object of torture as a hero as opposed to a criminal. In addition, torture became a source of conflict in the midst of the sovereign and the masses.Torture was supposed to be a manifestation of the power of the sovereign on the body it was designed to make the people fear the sovereign. Instead, the public executions made the audience detest the sovereigns power over them and their bodies. As a result, the public often intervened at the executions. Foucault wrote that the criminals had to be guarded from the audience and that the people often attempted to liberate the jailed convicts (Foucault, 1977). Eventually, torture as punishment was rendered obsolete because power was redirected to the soul.In the book, Foucault juxtaposed the account of Damiens torture in the 18th century with the schedule of prisoners in a 19th century jail (Foucault, 1977). This juxtaposition presented the dramatic difference between punishments in those time periods. According to Foucault, the transformation occurred because the pen alty shifted from body to soul. In the past, the punishment was directed towards the body. By the 19th century, torture disappeared because punishment was already directed to the soul. The executioner, who was once a relevant figure, was replaced with new figures of authority.Professionals much(prenominal) as doctors and psychologists took over the correctional process. Foucault claimed that those who were responsible for the transformation of correctional methods had learned to consider the humanity of the criminals they sought to respect and reform the human body rather than diminish it. Prison life was more humane than torture, but both methods of correction were still grounded on power. A new kind of power existed for the criminals, that which resulted in impersonal method of supervision which influenced the psychology of the inmates (Foucault, 1977).Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison is a postmodernist text. Michel Foucault had undermined the stability of institutio ns by exposing its changing nature through his discussion on torture. Foucault illustrated the prevalence and obsolescence of torture as a form of punishment in history. He proved that the existence of torture was due to the manifestation of power on the body. When power was manifested on the soul, it ceased to exist. Indeed, Michel Foucault had shown the arbitrariness of institutions through his discussion on torture.ReferencesFoucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison. (A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York Vintage Books (Original work published 1975).Sarup, M. (1993). An earlier Guide to Post-structuralism and Postmodernism (2nd ed.).