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The object of the inspection principle is directly the reverse: it is to make them not only suspect, but be assured, that whatever they do is known, even though that should not be the case.
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“The object of the inspection principle is directly the reverse: it is to make them not only suspect, but be assured, that whatever they do is known, even though that should not be the case.”

Jeremy Bentham

Source
Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House
Date
1791
Local voice
Authorial / signed preface voice · Jeremy Bentham
Meaning

Meaning of “The object of the inspection principle is directly…”

Bentham distinguishes inspection from secret eavesdropping: the proposed system is meant to shape behavior by making people believe their actions may always be observed.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House, represented by the Wikisource public-domain transcription of the 1791 publication containing letters written in 1787. This is Bentham’s historical institutional and penal-design argument, not a modern endorsement of surveillance or prison policy.

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Speaker context

Why the local voice matters

Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House. Bentham states the intended psychological effect of the inspection principle in his historical institutional-design argument; this is not a modern endorsement of surveillance practice.

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ResponsibilityThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite ReflectionEthicsPolitics
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Source details

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Source details

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Source details

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Source details

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Source details

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Meaning & context

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Source details

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