The Process and Effects of Being Looked At in Relation to Foucault and Revaluation

In this paper, I would like to draw a loosely analogical connection to Foucault and the three forms of structuring that he identifies: the enclosure of individuals, partitioning, and hierarchization. I intend to completely reverse these structures within a thought experiment in order to establish a unifying element. As already mentioned, I draw loosely and analogically on Foucault’s work while also incorporating my own approaches and ideas. In the process of being looked at, a clear structure can be identified: there is an observer who looks at or observes something or someone. This structure already produces a power asymmetry, which becomes even more apparent if we imagine what it would mean to be observed by a higher power, such as God (the panoptic observer, in Foucault’s terms). For me, the merciful Christian God plays the essential role in this thought experiment. First, there is a profound asymmetry, or inequality, in the knowledge that one entity possesses about the other. Furthermore, a strong form of partitioning takes place, since each individual is observed separately by this higher entity. Finally, a pronounced hierarchy can be identified, since the higher entity is omniscient, immortal, and omnipotent and is therefore profoundly superior to the individual. In contrast to Foucault’s guard or teacher, I would like to undertake a complete revaluation of this all-pervasive gaze, since we are speaking here of a forgiving and merciful God before whom all human beings possess equal worth and through whom we can become united rather than separated, namely through the love that God has for us. God is also not controlling in this conception, since he has given human beings free will and consciousness. We always have the possibility of rejecting belief in God and nevertheless remain loved even if we reject God or, for personal reasons, choose to turn away from Him. Whereas the social gaze separates and isolates individuals, the divine gaze establishes an inner unity. Whereas, in Foucault, the effect of the gaze is that human beings are subjected to observation and consequently adapt their behavior in order to remain part of the system, God represents complete redemption: God does not punish us but receives us with love, and we have been created by Him to be free, regardless of whether we perform particular functions, how we dress, what role we occupy within the system, or any other such external characteristic. In conclusion, this thought experiment reverses the social gaze and transforms its function into its opposite. Whereas Foucault’s analyses emphasize the disciplinary and normalizing effects of observation, the divine gaze could instead be understood as a gaze of recognition and unification. The awareness of being seen by a higher being could therefore generate not control and submission, but humility, connectedness, and self-reflection.