Editing Panopticon (section)

== Conceptual history ==
[[File:Panopticon Animation by Myles Zhang.webmhd.webm|thumb|right|This computer rendered video shows how Bentham's panopticon would have appeared if built.]]
[[File:Panopticon_Willey_Reveley_1791.png|thumb|right|Section view of a panopticon prison drawn by Willey Reveley, circa 1791. The cells are marked with (H); a skylight (M) was to provide light and ventilation.<ref>{{cite book |title= Bentham Papers 119a/119 |publisher= UCL Press |pages= 137}}</ref>]]
[[File:Panopticon_Willey_Reveley_1791_elevated_view.png|thumb|right|Plan view of the panopticon prison, by Reveley, 1791<ref>{{cite book |title= Bentham Papers 119a/119 |publisher= UCL Press |pages= 139}}</ref>]]
The word ''panopticon'' derives from the Greek word for "all seeing" – {{Lang|el|panoptes}}.<ref>{{cite book | author= Alan Briskin |title=Stirring of Soul in the Workplace |year=1998 |publisher= Berrett-Koehler Publishers |isbn= 9781605096162 |pages= 77}}</ref> In 1785, [[Jeremy Bentham]], an English social reformer and founder of [[utilitarianism]], travelled to [[Krychaw|Krichev]] in Mogilev Governorate of the [[Russian Empire]] (modern [[Belarus]]) to visit his brother, [[Samuel Bentham|Samuel]], who accompanied [[Grigory Potemkin|Prince Potemkin]].<ref name="Correspondence">{{cite book | editor1-first= Timothy L. S. |editor1-last=Sprigge |editor2-first=J. H. |editor2-last=Burns |title=Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham, Volume 1: 1752 to 1776 |year=2017 |publisher= UCL Press |isbn= 9781911576051}}</ref>{{rp|xxxviii}} Bentham arrived in Krichev in early 1786<ref>{{cite book | author = Gillian Darley |title=Factory | url = https://archive.org/details/factoryobjekt00darl | url-access = limited |year=2003 |publisher= Reaktion Books |isbn= 9781861891556 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/factoryobjekt00darl/page/n53 52]}}</ref> and stayed for almost two years. While residing with his brother in Krichev, Bentham sketched out the concept of the panopticon in letters. Bentham applied his brother's ideas on the constant observation of workers to prisons. Back in England, Bentham, with the assistance of his brother, continued to develop his theory on the panopticon.<ref name="Correspondence"/>{{rp|xxxviii}} Prior to fleshing out his ideas of a panopticon prison, Bentham had drafted a complete [[penal code]] and explored fundamental legal theory. While in his lifetime Bentham was a prolific letter writer, he published little and remained obscure to the public until his death.<ref name="Correspondence"/>{{rp|385}}

Bentham thought that the chief mechanism that would bring the manager of the panopticon prison in line with the duty to be humane would be [[publicity]]. Bentham tried to put his ''duty and interest junction principle'' into practice by encouraging a public debate on prisons. Bentham's ''inspection principle'' applied not only to the inmates of the panopticon prison, but also the manager. The unaccountable [[Prison officer|gaoler]] was to be observed by the general public and public officials. The apparently constant surveillance of the prison inmates by the panopticon manager and the occasional observation of the manager by the general public was to solve the age old philosophic question: "[[Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?|Who guards the guards?]]"<ref>{{cite book | author= James E. Crimmins |title=The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Utilitarianism |year=2017 |publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn= 9781350021686 |pages= 396}}</ref> 

Bentham continued to develop the panopticon concept, as [[industrialisation]] advanced in [[England]] and an increasing number of workers were required to work in ever larger [[factories]].<ref>{{cite book | author= Alan Briskin |title=Stirring of Soul in the Workplace |year=1998 |publisher= Berrett-Koehler Publishers |isbn= 9781605096162 |pages= 78}}</ref> Bentham commissioned drawings from an architect, [[Willey Reveley]]. Bentham reasoned that if the prisoners of the panopticon prison could be seen but never knew when they were watched, the prisoners would need to follow the rules. Bentham also thought that Reveley's prison design could be used for [[factory|factories]], [[Psychiatric hospital|asylum]]s, [[hospitals]], and [[school]]s.<ref>{{cite book | author1-first= Joel |author1-last=Gold |author2-first=Ian |author2-last=Gold |title=Suspicious Minds: How Culture Shapes Madness |year=2015 |publisher= Simon and Schuster |isbn= 9781439181560 |pages= 210}}</ref> 

Bentham remained bitter throughout his later life about the rejection of the panopticon scheme, convinced that it had been thwarted by the king and an aristocratic elite. It was largely because of his sense of injustice and frustration that he developed his ideas of ''sinister interest'' – that is, of the vested interests of the powerful conspiring against a wider public interest – which underpinned many of his broader arguments for reform.<ref>{{cite book | author=Philip Schofield |title=Bentham: a guide for the perplexed |year=2009 |place=London |publisher= Continuum |isbn= 978-0-8264-9589-1 |pages= 90–93}}</ref>