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Contra Bentham: ethical information policy in the PanopticEon

Duff, Alistair S; Bentham, Contra

Authors

Alistair S Duff

Contra Bentham



Abstract

The article addresses the problem of surveillance within the framework of ethical information policy. Jeremy Bentham’s plan for a panoptic penitentiary is subjected to forensic analysis, using primary as well as published sources. The panopticon, it is argued, remains a key model of contemporary and emergent surveillance, as foil rather than exemplar. Michel Foucault’s influential reading of Bentham is defended against recent detractors in the field of surveillance studies. A new descriptor, the PanopticEon, is then introduced for the surveillance-infested age into which the world has entered. The argument concludes with brief reflections on strategies for maintaining privacy as an indispensable component of the good information society

Citation

Duff, A. S., & Bentham, C. (2017). Contra Bentham: ethical information policy in the PanopticEon. Journal of Information Ethics, 26(1), 93-111

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 21, 2016
Online Publication Date May 31, 2017
Publication Date May 31, 2017
Deposit Date Feb 9, 2017
Publicly Available Date Jun 1, 2018
Journal Journal of Information Ethics
Print ISSN 1061-9321
Publisher McFarland & Company
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 26
Issue 1
Pages 93-111
Keywords Ethical information policy, privacy, information society,
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/683412
Publisher URL https://www.questia.com/library/p439830/journal-of-information-ethics/i4038267/vol-25-no-1-2016
Contract Date Aug 29, 2017

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Contra Bentham: Ethical Information Policy In The PanopticEon (PDF) (153 Kb)
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Fig 7 Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, Glasgow, 2016. Photograph by Alistair Duff (1.7 Mb)
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Figure 6 Round Reading Room, University of Glasgow, 2016. Photograph by Alistair Duff. (2.5 Mb)
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Figure 4 Colour drawing by W. Reveley, c. 1791 (UC 119 122). From the Bentham Papers, UCL Library Services, Special Collections, reproduced with permission. (4.5 Mb)
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Figure 3 Colour drawing by W. Reveley, after Bentham's design, c. 1791 (UC 119 121). From the Bentham Papers, UCL Library Services, Special Collections, reproduced with permission. (3.7 Mb)
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Figure 1 Rough drawings of the Panopticon, c. 1791 (UC 119 124). From the Bentham Papers, UCL Library Services, Special Collections, reproduced with permission. (1.2 Mb)
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Captions text for images (12 Kb)
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Figure 2 Drawing by W. Reveley, after Bentham's design, c. 1791 (UC 115 44). From the Bentham Papers, UCL Library Services, Special Collections, reproduced with permission (16.1 Mb)
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Contra Bentham: Ethical Information Policy in the PanopticEon (43 Kb)
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