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Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

German philosopher who was a profound influence on all of Foucault's work from his student days onward, including Discipline and Punish. The concept of genealogy could be Nietzsche's main legacy to Foucault. Nietzsche's idea of a "genealogy of morals" sought to reinterpret morality "from the perspective of life," praising those qualities that enhanced life, rather than the "herd morality" that detracted from it.

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)

English philosopher, a father of Radicalism and Utilitarianism. One example of his unconventional nature: when he died in 1832, he had his body preserved and placed on display in a cabinet in University College, London, where it remains to this day. Foucault uses Bentham’s idea of the panopticon (a building that shows how individuals can be supervised and controlled efficiently) to exemplify disciplinary building.

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