Penalty operates through the idea of pain, not pain itself
Evidence
If the motive of a crime is the advantage expected of it, the effectiveness of the penalty is the disadvantage expected of it. This means that the ‘pain’ at the heart of punishment is not the actual sensation of pain, but the idea of pain, displeasure, inconvenience – the ‘pain’ of the idea of ‘pain’. Punishment has to make use not of the body, but of representation. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 155
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Punishment is designed to maximize apparent suffering while minimizing real pain. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 15; The reformed penalty shifted its target from the body to subtler suffering — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 43; Modern punishment targets liberty, not bodily pain — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 46 (+11 more)
Related
- Punishment is designed to maximize apparent suffering while minimizing real pain. (similarity 0.93)
- Punishment’s severity must aim at future prevention, not past harm (similarity 0.87)
- Modern punishment targets the soul rather than the body (similarity 0.86)
- Punishment deters when its expected cost merely exceeds crime’s benefit (similarity 0.85)
- Punishment’s deterrent power migrated from visible spectacle to certainty of apprehension (similarity 0.85)
- Modern punishment targets liberty, not bodily pain (similarity 0.84)
- Feigned punishment could deter crime without real suffering (similarity 0.84)
- Apparent punishment outweighs real suffering whenever the innocent outnumber the punished. (similarity 0.84)
- Penal reform aimed to increase punishment’s effects while lowering its costs. (similarity 0.84)
- The reformed penalty shifted its target from the body to subtler suffering (similarity 0.84)
- Painless execution drugs are the logical terminus of non-corporal penality (similarity 0.82)
- The real target of punishment is potential offenders, not the convict himself (similarity 0.81)
- Imprisonment has always retained a hidden element of physical pain (similarity 0.81)
- Certainty, not severity, makes punishment deter because it fixes crime-punishment links in minds (similarity 0.81)
- The example shifted from terror to the decipherable lesson of crime and punishment (similarity 0.81)
Broader Connections
- Feigned punishment could deter crime without real suffering
#expands(0.85) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 28 - Apparent punishment outweighs real suffering whenever the innocent outnumber the punished.
#expands(0.85) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 14 - Penal power shifted its target from the body to the mind
#responds-to(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 162 - Certainty, not severity, makes punishment deter because it fixes crime-punishment links in minds
#expands(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 157 - Subtler punishment masked sovereign power rather than making it more humane
#expands(0.75)