Цифровая камера и классическая государственно-правовая теория

Логос. 2026. Т. 36. № 1. С. 1–38.

Kurennoy V.

This article provides a brief overview of the contemporary use of digital cameras and the fundamental societal changes they have brought about. Digital video surveillance is becoming an integral part of urban infrastructure, transforming notions of public space, privacy, and control. It examines the key risks associated with the proliferation of digital video surveillance, including potential threats to personal freedom and the emergence of a "surveillance society." It also counters alarmist expectations stemming from a disregard for existing constitutional and legal norms that govern the use of cameras and protect citizens' rights.
The digital camera paradigm is placed within the context of the core issues of classical modern political theory—Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham—in three key respects. First, Kant's idea of ​​"strict law" is examined, as it relates to publicity as a condition of the legitimacy of state power. Second, the ideal of good government, espoused by both Kant and Bentham, is analyzed, which implies the minimization of abuses by authorities through mechanisms of openness. Third, Bentham's model of a transparent society, the architectural embodiment of which is the panopticon project, is discussed. It is shown that Michel Foucault's interpretation of the panopticon distorts Bentham's original idea, since it ignores the democratic potential of mutual surveillance and public control over power. The article demonstrates that contemporary debates about video surveillance reproduce the classical tensions between freedom, security, and the transparency of power.

Keywords: Иммануил Кант, Мишель Фуко, транспарентность, Michel Foucault, transparency, публичность, publicity, Jeremy Bentham, private sphere, good governance, паноптикум, Panopticon, Immanuel Kant, digital camera, strict law, цифровая камера, приватная сфера, строгое право, хорошее правление, Иеремия Бентам

Publication based on the results of: Human in the Digital Environment: Inclusive and Adaptive Strategies of Culture, Biopolitics and Biosemiotics (2025)