Law after the Law: Contemporary Approaches to the Paradoxical Relationship between Law and Violence

Any philosophical approach to the relationship between law and violence must confront an unavoidable paradox. Law finds its legitimation in its capacity to neutralize, interrupt, or, at best, overcome violence. Yet certain philosophical critiques of the law have taught us that violence also stands a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CR (East Lansing, Mich.) Mich.), 2014-10, Vol.14 (2), p.1-10
Main Author: Lopez, Maria del Rosario Acosta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conservation
Law
Legitimation
Philosophy
Violence
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Summary:Any philosophical approach to the relationship between law and violence must confront an unavoidable paradox. Law finds its legitimation in its capacity to neutralize, interrupt, or, at best, overcome violence. Yet certain philosophical critiques of the law have taught us that violence also stands at the foundation of law's own legitimation. What grounds the normativity of the law, in other words, is what simultaneously denies it its legitimacy. Violence exists not only external to the law, that is, as a means of its enforcement and conservation, but also lies at the core of what the law is, at the ground of its own presupposition and legitimation.
ISSN:1532-687X
1539-6630
DOI:10.14321/crnewcentrevi.14.2.0001