Jeremy Bentham, Panopticon: or, The inspection-house

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Jermey Bentham, Samuel Bentham and Willey Reveley,

Penitentiary Panopticon

1791.

Bentham's Panopticon -- or to give it its full title "Panopticon: or, The inspection-house. Containing the idea of a new principle of construction applicable to any sort of establishment, in which persons of any description are to be kept under inspection, etc." -- has considerable historical importance in the history of penal reform, having been one of the most carefully elaborated blueprints for the systematic penal institutions which began to replace the gaols and bridewells, medieval in origin, which had been intended only as holding stations before criminals were fined, sent to the stocks, transported, or executed. During the later eighteenth century, confluent humanitarian, administrative and

1072 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Panopticon: or, The inspection-house". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 September 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10390, accessed 19 March 2024.]

10390 Panopticon: or, The inspection-house 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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