THe Triumph of philosophy and the New Tragedy.

Running head : KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Knowledge on Commandments Gains Power (Author (School (Teacher (Subject

Power is a complicated term that has different meaning . It can be the ability to govern wherein it implies the influence of the ruler on its subordinates . Or it can be the ability to control the subsidiaries of the person on the high position . It can be the ability to initially influence the people around him

According to the story of Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault power was possessed by the sovereign in the eighteenth century . It

was him who has the ultimate control of everything over his subordinates . It was he who decided on the things that could be done and the things that could not be done in a specific place . Also , it was he who gave punishments to the people who had committed a crime . He was also the one who decided the extent of the punishments to the criminals . And he is also the one that decides the date of the execution . He has the control of everything , all the things that concerned the society and the people where he is governing

The punishments those times as what Michel Foucault elaborated were brutal ones . The condemned man was being tortured . The body of the condemned man was being punished to the extent the physical pain that was being induced to him should leave a mark to its body for him to learn his lesson . The extent of the torture was being determined on how the sovereign wants the condemned man to learn his lessons

This kind of punishment was shown in the story of Franz Kafka , which is the `In the Penal Colony . In this story there were four major characters namely : the officer , the explorer , the condemned man , and the soldier . In the story , the explorer went to a penal colony for a visit to honor the invitation of the new commander of the said penal colony During his visit , he was supposed to witness an execution . But before the execution , the officer showed the explorer the machine that will be used in the execution of the condemned man . The condemned man was to be punished for he was asleep during his working hours and he was caught in the act by his superior . His superior sued him and wanted him to be punished so he was sent to the penal colony . He was prosecuted because of his actions . His prosecution will be done for him to learn from the wrong deed he had done

The process and the outcome of the prosecution are unknown to the condemned man . The only thing he knew was that he will be punished because of his action . He did not know the extent of his punishment and its outcome , which is death . This process was given an extra attention by the explorer and the ignorance of the condemned man of his punishment as well . The explorer continuously questioned the officer the regarding the...