Benjamin W - Critique of Violence

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Critique of Violence

The task of a critique of violence can be su�marized as thatof expounding its reltion to law and justi. For u,

however eective becomes violent in the precise sense of theword only when it bears on moral issues The sphere of theeissues is dened by the conpts of lw and justie. With regato the rst of these it is ear· that the most elementary relationship within any legal system is that of ends to means andrth that violence C st be sought only in the realm o means not of ends These osvations provide a itique of violen with morand rtainly dierent-premise thanperhaps appears For if violence is a means a criterion fo iticizing it might sm immediately vailable. t imsesitself in the question whether violence in a give case is

mens to a just or a unjust end A critique of it would then be implied in a system of just ends This howver is not

For what such a system assuming it to be secure against alldoubt would contain is not a iterion for violence itself as aprinciple but rather the iterion or ss o its use. Thequestion would remain open wheer violen s a prinplecould a moral means even to just ends To rsolve this queon a more eact iterion is needed which would isiminate within the sphere of means themslves without reard o

e ends they serve.The eusion of this more precise critical approach is pe

haps the predominant ature of a mai curent of legal philosophy: atural law. It perceives in the use of violent meanto just ends no greater problem than a man sees in his "rightto move his body in the direction of a desired goal. Accord

ing to this view (r which the trosm in the French Revolu



een

tion poi an ioogica founation) ionc is a pouctof natu as it w a aw maia th us of which is in no

way pobmatical unlss foc is misus fo unust ns f,accoing to th thoy of sat of natua aw pop gi upall thi iolnc fo th sa of th sta his is on on thassumption which Spinoa fo amp sats plicitly in hisTractatus Theologico-Politicus) hat h iniiua bfo thconclusion of this ational conact has de jure th ight tous at will th ionc that is de fcto at his isposal Phaps

ths iws ha bn cnly in by Dawin's bioogywhich in a thooughly ogmatic mann gas vionc sth only oginal mans bsis naual sction appopat to al th ia ns of natu Popula Dawinistic phiosophy has ofn shown how shot a sp it is fom his ogma of natual hisoy to th sil cu on of lga philosophywhich hols that th iolnc tha is amost aon appopiatto natua ns is thy also lga.

This thsis of natual law tha gas ionc as a nauaatum is iamticaly oppos to tha of posii law whichss ionc as a pouct of hisoy f natua law can ugall ising law only in citiciing is ns so posii aw can

ug al oing law ony in citiciing its mans f usic is

th cition of ns lgaity is that of mans Notwithstaning this anihsis how both schools m in thi common baic ogma st ns can b atain by usti mans usti mans us fo ust ns Natua law attmps by th ustns of th ns to ustify th mans positi aw toguaan th ustnss of th ns though th usicationof th mans This antinomy woul po insoub if th com

mon ogmaic assumption w fals if usti mans on thon han an ust ns on th oth w in iconciabconict No inight into this pobm coul b gain how until th cicula agumnt ha bn bon an mutually inpnnt citia both of ust ns an of ustimans w sabish

Th am of ns an thfo aso th usion of a



que f Vene

riteon of justess, s exclude or the time beig fom thisstuy. Istea, te cetal place s gve to the questo of t

ustcato of cetai meas that costitute violce Picies of atual law caot ecie is questio, ut ca olylea to ottomles casusty For if osve aw is l to theasoluteess of eds, atual law is equaly so to the cotgec of meas O e ohe had, the ostve teoy olaw is acctale as a yothetcal asis at the ouset of tistuy ecause it uetakes a fudaetal dstcio e

twee ks of voee ideedety of cases of the aicato Tis istictio is etwee isocally ackowledgedso·cale sactioe vioece, a usactoe volece I thefollowg cosieatios rocee om tst cao, of couse,mean tat gve fos of volece ae cassie i tems owethe ty are sacioed o ot. Fo i a ctque o volece, a ctio fo te later i osive law caot coceits uses ut oly s evaluaio. e questo that coers uss, wat ligt is thow o the atue of violece y te factthat suc a cteio o iscto ca e alie to it at allo, oe wods, wat is the meag of ths dsctio?hat this istictio sued y posve law is meaigful, ase o te atu� of olece ad eceale y ay

ote, wll soo eoug e sow, ut at the sae te ligwill e se o te see i wich aoe sch a disticioca e mae. To sum u: f the crieio estished y ositive law to assess te legality of violee ca e alyzed wit regad to its meag, te the see o s acio mte cticized with egad to its value For ths cque a stadot outsie ositive legal hilooy u also ousde tural

law ust e foud e extet to wich it ca oy e fise y a histoico-hilosoica vew of law will emege

Te meag of te distictio ewee legitimate allegitimat iolece is ot imeiatey ovious Te misestag atua law y wch a sticio is dawetwee vioece use for ust a uust eds must e em

patcally reecte Rater, it has alreay ee dcated tat



280 to

oitive law eman of all viole a oof of i hitocaloigin which un cetain nition i eae lal anc

ione. Since the acknowlegment of legal violence i motangily evit in a eliate umiion to it en a hyothetical itincon etwn kin of violence mut e aeon the eence o aence of a geneal hitoical acknowlegment of it en En that lack uch acknowlegment may e lle natual en he ohe legal en he ieing function of vilence eening on wheth it eve natual o

legal en n e mot ealy tace againt a agoun oecic legal conition Fo he ake of imlicity the following icuion wil elate to contoay Euoean conition

Chaacteitic of thee a the iniviual a legal u ect i concene i the tenency not to amit the natual enof u iniviual in all thoe cae in which uch en ulin a given ituation e ufully uue y violence imean i legal ytem tie to eect in all aea whee iniviual en ul e uefully uue y violence legal enthat c only e ealie y legal owe nee it tve tolimit y ll en ev tho aea in which natual en aeamitte in incile within we ounaie like that of eucaion a oon a thee natual en ae uue with a

eceive meaue of violence a in the law elating to heimit of eucational authoity to unih t can e fomulatea a geneal maim of eentay Euoean legilation that allthe natual en of iniviual mut collie with legal enif uu with a geate o le egee of violence (he contaiction etween i an the ight of elfefene will elve in what follow) Fom thi maim it follow that law

ee violen in e han of niviual a a ange unemining the lel ytem A a ange nullifying legal enan the legal ecutive tainly not; fo ten violence a uchwoul not e conemne ut only that iecte to illegal en.t will e ague that a ytem of legal en cannot mantaine if natual en ae anywhee till uue violently. n

the t lace howeve thi i a me ogma o count



Ctqu o Von

one might phaps nsider the suprsing possibility that thela interest in a monopol of violence vis--vis individual

i not explaned b the intention of preserving legal ends but,rath, b that of preserving the law itself; that volence, whenot in the hands of the law threans it not b the ends thatit ma pursue but b its mere existence outside the law. eme ma be more drasticall suggested if one reBects how often the gure of the "great crminal hwev repellent hiends ma have been has aroused the secet admiration o the

public This cannot esult om his deed but onl om theviolence to which it bear witness In this case, terefore theviolence of which presentda law is seeking in all areas of activit to deprive the individual appears reall teatening,and arouses even in defeat the spath of the mass againstlaw what functioviolence can with reason seem so threat

ening to law and be feared b it, must be especiall evdentwhere its application even in the prent lel sstem, i stillpermissible

This is above all the case in the class suggle in te rm f e workers' guaranteed right to strike Organized labor iapart from the state, probabl toda the onl legal subject entitled to exercise violence. Against this view thee is certainl

the objection that an omission of actions a nonacion whicha sike reall is cannot be described as violence. Such a conideration doubtless made it easi for a state pow to concevethe right to strike once this was no longer avoidable ut ittuth is not unconditional and there not unrestricted. Itis true tat the omission of an action or servi, were itamounts simpl to a severing of relations can be an entirel nonviolent pure means And as in the view o the state or thlaw the right to sike conceded to labor is certainl not aight to eerse violence but rather to escape from a violenceinirectl eercised b the emploer strikes conforming to thisma undoubte occur om time to time and involve onl awthrawal or estrgement from the emploer. The mo

ment of violence howeve is necessaril introduced in the



cton

form o£ extortion into suc an oission i£ it takes place in thcontext o£ conscious readiness to resue th suspendection under certain cirmstances tha eit ave nothing whatever to do wit tis action or only suercilly odiy itUnderstood in is way, he rig to ske constitutes in thiew o abor which is opos to hat o the stat he right tuse orce in aaining certain ends. Te antihesis between etwo nions eers in all it bitterness in ce o a revotionary general strike In ts labor wll always aea o i

ight to strike and e sate wll cal tis aeal an abuseince he rig o srike was not "so ineded and take eegency easures For e sae reains e rigt o decla tat aiulanus use o srike in all indusres is ilegal since hesecc reasons or strike adited by legisation cannot berevalent in every workso In s derence o interpretion is eressed e objective contradiction in te egal situa

ion wereby e sate aknowleges a vioence wose ends asatura ends it soeies regards wi indierence but in acriss (e revoluionary general strike) conronts iniicallyFor however aradoica is ay aear at rst sig evenconduct invoving te eercise o a righ can nevereess under rain circstanes, be described as vioent More se

cally suh conduc when acive ay be caled violent i it eers a rig in order o overthrow te lega syse at sconred it; when assive it is nevereless to be so describedi it contitues eorion in te sense elained above It ereore reveals an objective conradiion in e legal siuation bu no a ogi conradicon in te law i under certaincircusances te law eets te srikers as eretraors o

vioence wi vioence For in a srike e sae ears above allelse hat untion o vionce wic i s te objec o s studyto ideniy as e ony secure oundation o its critique For i ioence were as rst apears, erely te eans to securdirecly whaever aens o be ugh it uld ul is enas redaory violence I woud enirey unsuiabe as a basior or a odicaon o reatively stable conditions he



Ctqu o Von

stri hows howr that it n b so that it is abl o fodand o lgal conditons howvr ond th ns o stic may nd itsl thrby It will b obcte that sch nction o iolnc is ortitos and isolatd This can rbttd by a considration o military violnc

ossbility o ilitary law rsts on xactly th saobctiv contradicton n th lgal sitaton as dos that o trik law that is to say on th act tat lgal sbcts sctoviolnc whos nds rmain or th sanctonrs natral nd

and n thror in a crisis com into conict with thir owlgal or natral nds Admittdly military volc is in thrst la usd qit dirctly as rdatory violnc towardts nds Yt it is vry striking that vnr rathr rcisly-in rimitv conditions that kno hardly th binnngs oconstittonal rlation and vn in cass whr th victor hastablishd hmsl in invlnrabl ossson a ac cr

mony is ntrly ncessary Indd th word ac in thsns in which it is th corrlav to th word war othr is also a qit drnt maning simlarly ntahorical and oltical th on sd by Kant in talking o "EtrnalPac) dnots this a rori ncssary sanctonng rgardlsso all othr lgal conditions o vry victory Ths sanctionconsists rcisly in rcognzing th nw conditions as a nwlaw qit rgardlss o whthr th nd d fo anygarant o thir contination I thror conclsons canb drawn rom mlitary voln as bn riordial and aradgmatic o all volnc sd or natral nds, thr s nhrnt in all sch violnc a lawmakng charactr W shall trn latrto th imlcaons o is insight It lans th abov

ntond tndncy o modrn law to dvst th indivdalat last as a lgal sbct o all voln vn that dectedonly to natral nds In th at crnal this violnc onronts th law with th thrat o dclaring a nw law a trat that vn today dsit is iotnc in iortant instancshorris th blc as it dd in rival tms Th stathowr ars ths vionc sly or its lawakn haractr



o

being oblid to acknowledge it as lawmaking wheneer exta powers force i to concede th th righ to conduct

warf, ad asses the ght to strike.If in the as wa the itique of military violence was e stating point for a pasoate itique of violence in nrlwic taught at least one thing tha violenc is no long er eersed and tolratd navely-neerthelss violen was ot ony subject to iticism for its awmaking character but was aso judd, rhaps more annihilatingly, for another of its

functions For a duality in the function of violnce is chaacteristc of militarism, which could ony come into being throu neral conscrition Mili tar is te compulsouniversal u of violence as a mns to the ends of he state.This mulr use o violence has reny ben stinized as ely as or still more closely than the use of violence itself In it violence shows itself in a function quite dirent om its simle alication for natura nds It nssts in the use of violence as a means of ll ends. For the rdinaton of citizens to lawsin the rent to the law of neal nstionis a legal end f that rst ncton of violn is d the lawmaking function this second will ced the lawpresering fnction. Sin nsition is a case of law

presering violen that is not in inpl distinguished om others a reay eective itique of it is far lss ea than t he declamations of pasts and activists sugst. Rther such a itique coincides with the citique of al lgal vionce-that is, with the critique o ll or eecutiv orand cnn ot prormed by any esr proam Nor of courseunless one is prepared to proclaim a quite chidish anarchism-is it

achivd by rsing to acknowld any constraint towd ersons and declaring "What pleases is permittd. uc a maim mery ecludes reection on th moral and istorca spheres and thereby on any meaning in acton and beyond this on y meaning in reality itf which cannot n·stituted if action is rmoved £ its shre. More imrtant

is the ct that even the aeal so equently attempted to



rtque o Voence

the tegorical imperative, wih its doubtess incontestabemimum program-act in such a way tat at al time you use

humanity th i yo perso ad i he person of l othe as ed ad ever merely as a meais i itself indequatefor such a itique.· For positive law if onscious of its twill certaily to ackowledge and promote the interestof makid i e pro of each idividual It sees tis inest i the represetatio ad preservao of a ord imposedb te Whe this vi which aims to preve law n t

very basis caot esca crism ertheless all attacks thatare made merely i the ame of a formless "fedom withoutbeing able to spfy this highr ordr of edom remainimtent agaist it And most impotet of al we insteadof atacking the lel ystem ot and brach, th impugparticuar aws or eg practices that the law of urs under the protectio of its power wch esides in the factat there is onl one fate and that what exits, and in partculr what threatns beongs inviolabl to its order For awpreserving vioece is a threatening vioence And its threatis ot inteded as the deterrent that uninformed iber theoists iterpret it to be A deteent in the eact sese woudrequire a ctainty that contracts the nature of a threat and

is ot attaied by ay law ce there is always hope of eludig it This makes it all the more thratening like fateo which depeds wheer the imal is apprehended hedeepest purpose of the uncrtity of the egal threat wilemrge om the later siderio o he phere of fate iwhc it origiates The is a usfl poiter to it in the sphereof puishmets Amog them the validity of potive

law has bee called ito questio cpital pishment has provoked more iticis tha all othrs However supercial theauments may i most cas have ben their motives weand are rooted in prple The oppoents of thes i

• One might, ra doub wht tis faou dand dos o conaoo littl tha s wh s rsbl o use o alow o d onl o anoth any c a a ans Vry good grods fo

doub old addud



!86 ton

felt perhaps withot knowing why and pobably involntarily,that n atta on capitl pnishment asails not leal mea

ue, not laws bt lw itself in i orin. Fo i volence,iolee owned by is t orin o lw ten it ay adily d tht where the ihest violene, hat ovelife and deth occrs in the leal sytem te orins o law jtmnifestly and earsely in istence. In reement withthi is the fact that the deth penalty in primitive lel systemis imposed even s cimes as oens ainst property,

to which it seems qite ot of "proportion. ts prpose is notto pnish the ininement of law bt to establish new lFor in the exercse o violence over life and death more thann any other leal act lw earms itsel Bt in this very violen somethin rotten in law is evealed above ll to a nersensibiliy, base the latt knows itself to innitely

ote om nditions in whic a ht imerosly hve

show itel in s senten. Reason mst however ttemptto pproa sc conditions all the more eSltely i it is tobrin to a consion its iqe o both lwmain nd lawpsevin violence

n far more nntral combination than n the deth enlty in a nd of spectral mixtre hese wo orms of volenr present in anoth instittion o the modern sta, thepolice. Tre his is violence or leal ends (in the rht o dposition) bt with the mltaneos thority to dede eseends itself witin wde limits (in te riht of decree) e ignominy o sch an oriy which is elt by ew simly ca its ordinans s only sdom for the dest acts,bt are thereore allowed to rampae l the more blindly inte most vlnerable reas and aainst thners om whom thestate is not procted by lw-is inominy lies in the factthat in this ahority t separation of lawmain nd lawpresrvin violence is sspended f the rst is reqired torove its worth in ictory the second is sbject to the restion that it may not set ie new ends Polic violence emanpated rom th ndiions t i lwmakin r it



Citiqu o Vion

aracersic funcion is not he promulgaion of laws but heasseon o ll lams for ay deee and law-preseig

beuse i is a he dspos o these ends. Te asserion athe ends of poice violece are alwa ideical or ev neced o those of eeral law is enirel nrue Raher, e"law of e poi reall marks he poi at wi he saewheer om imoee or becau o e immane conectios wihin an legal ssem, n o loger guratee hroughe legal sstem e epirical eds ha i desies at a p

to aain Therefore e poli inene or secur reasosin counless cases whee no er legal siuaion ists whenthe are o merel whou he siges reaion to legal edsaccompani the czen as a ul enumra ugh alife regulaed b ordiances or smpl supevising im Ulikelaw which acnowledgs in he decsion deermied b placeand time a meaphsica caegor ha gives it a claim o criical evaluaion a osiderao o he polie insiio encouers nohig esseial at all Is power is fomess like inowhere angible allpervasive ghosl presence in e lie of civilized saes Ad ough he poli ma in aricularseverwere apea he sae it canno all deied hatheir spiri is les dasaing where e represen· in absolue

monarch, he pow of a uler i whh legiaive and execuive supremac are unied a in demoraes were heirexsen elevaed no suh relaio ears winess o egeatest nceivable degeeraio o violece

All violene as a meas is eier lawmakig or lawpresering If i las ai to eier o hese predaes, i oreis all

vaidit I follows owever a al violece as a meas even

in e mos ore ase is impliaed i he prolemacnaure of law isel d i the imorace of ese problemscanot be assessed wi ertan a his sge of he ivesigaio la neverheess appears om wha hs en said ino ambigous a moral lg hat e quesion pes tself wheh ere are no oher ha violent meas or regulaing icig hman interess We are aove a oigaed o oe



Reections

that a totaly nonvoent resolution of onits an ner lead to a legal ontrat or the latter however peaefully t may

have been entered nto by the parties, leads nally to possible volene t onfers on both partes the rght to take reourse to volene n me form aganst the other, should he break the agreement. Not only that; lke the outome, the orgin of every ontrat also ponts toward vioene. t need not be dretly present in t as lawmakng vioene, ut s represented n t nfar as the power that guarantees a egal ontrat s n

turn of volent orgn even f volene s not introdued into the ontrat tsef. When the onsousness of the latent presene of volene n a legal nsttuton disappears, the nsttuton lls nto deay n our time, parliaments provde an example of ths. They oer the famiiar, woefu spetale beause they have not remaned onsious of the revoutonary fores to whh they owe ther estene. Aordingly in Germany n partuar, the ast manifestation of suh forces bore no frut for parlaments. They lak the sense that a lawmakng volene s represented by themslves no wonder that they annot aheve derees worthy of this volene, but cultivate n ompromse a supposedly nonvoent manner of dealng wth poltal aars Ths remans, however a "produt stuated

wthn the mentalty of volene, no matter how t may disan all open volene, beause the eort toward ompromse s motvated not nternally but from outsde, by the opposng eort beause no ompromse, however freely aepted s onevable wthout a ompulsve harater. 't woud be better otherwse s the underlyng feelng n every ompromse.Sgnantly the deay of parlaments has perhaps aenated

as man mnds from the deal of a nonviolent resouton of poltal onts as were attrated to t by the war The pasts are onfronted by the Bolshevks and Syndalists These have eeted an annhlatng and on the whole apt crtque of presentday paraments. Nevertheess, however desirable and gratfyng a ourshng parliament mght be by compar

• Unger, Poltik d Mtaphysk B 1921, p 8



Critique of Violenc e

son a disssion o m eans o potia areement that are nprinipe nonvioent annot e onerned with pariamen

tarianism or what pariament ahieves in vta aairs anon e those ea derees that in their orin and otoe reattended voene

s an nonvioent resotion o onit possie? Withotdot he reatonships o private persons are o exampes o this Nonvioent areeent is posse whereve aivized ot aows the se o naoed means o areement Lea and iea means o ever ind that are a thesame voent ma e onronted with nonvoent ones as naoed means Cortes smpath peaeaeness trst andwhatever ee miht here e mentoned are ther setivepreonditions heir oetive manestation however is determined the aw t enormos sope o whih annot e

disssed here) that naoed means are neer those o dirett awas those o indret sotons he thereore neveapp dret to the resoton o onit etween man andman t on to matters onernin ojets he sphere of nonvioent means opens p in the rem o hman onitreatin to ds or this reason tehniqe n the roadestsense o the word is ther most partiar area ts proondestexampe is perhaps the onerene onsidered as a tehniqeo ivi areement or in it not on is nonvioent areementpossie t aso the esion o voene in prinpe is qiteexpt demonstrae one snant ator:· there s nosantion or n roa no eisaton on earth oriina stipated sh a santon his maes ear hat there s

sphere o hman areement that is nonvoent to the extentthat it is who inesie to vioene the proper shere of nderstandn anae On ate and in a pear proeso dea has it een penetrted ea voene in the penat paed on rad or whereas the ea sste at its oriintrstn to its vtros power s ontent to deeat awreain wherever it happens to show itse and deeption havin ite no trae o power aot it was on the prinpe ius civile



Reectn

vgantbus srptum es, eept ro punisenin Roanan ancient Geranic a te a o a aer perio acking

conence in s on vience no onge e ise a ac tat o a oes. Rae ea o e ate an isrust o tse inite its ecining viaiy begins to se itse ensit te intenion o spaing apesevin vioence moretaing aniestations uns o au eeoe not out o ora consieraions bu o ear o te vioence a it migtuneas in te eaue pay. Since suc ear concs i

te vioent nae o a eive o is oigins suc ens aenappopiate o e jusie eans o a ey reec otony te ecay o is on spere bu aso a iinution o pueean Fo in proibiing au a esticts e use o oy nonvioen eans because tey cou prouce eactivevioence is o a as aso paye a a in teconcession o e rig o sike ic conaics te ineress o te state t gants is ig because it oesas vioentactions te stae is aai o oppose Di no okers peviousy esort a once to saboage an se e o actories? oinuce en o reconci ei ineess peaceuy out invoving te ega syse ere is in e en apat o avirtues one eecive oive a oen enoug pus ino te

ost rectant ans pue insa o vioen means; i is teear o utua isavanages a reaen o aise ro vioent connaion aeve e oucoe ig be Suc otives are ceary visibe in couness cases o conic o ineess beteen pivae pesons is ieent en casses an ations are in conic since iger oes tat teaen toovere equay vico an vanquise re ien o

te eeings o os an o e inigence o ast aSpace oes no ere peri e to ace suc ige oers ante coon ineess corresponing o te i consiutete ost enuing oive or a pocy o pue eans e canereoe ony poin to pue eans in poiics as anaogous

• Bu p. 18



Crtique of Violence

to those whch govern peaceul ntercourse between prvaepersons

As regards class struggles n them trke must under certan conditons be seen as a pure means wo essentially d·feent knds o strike, the possbiltes o whc have already been considered must ow be more uly caracterzed Sorehas the redit-rom potca, rather than purey theoretcaconsideration havng rst dstinguised them He con

trasts them as the poltica and the proletaran genera srkehey are also anitheca n ther reaon o violence O theparsa o the former he says: The strengthening o tatepower s the bass o ther conceptons; n their present organzaons the poltcians (vz the moderae socasts) are already preparing the gound or a strong centralized and dscipnedpowr tha wl be mpevous to crtcism rm the oppositon,

capable o posing slence and o ssung ts mendacous derees The politi genera strke demonstrates how thetate will ose none o ts strength how power transerredrom the prveged to the prveged, how the mass o produce wl change their masers" In contast to ths poticagenera strke (whch ncdentally seems to have been summed

up by te abrtive German revouton) the proletaran generastrke sets tsel the soe task o destroyng state power Itnulles a the deoogca consequences o every possbe soca polcy; ts partsans see even te mos popuar reorms as bourgeo" This genera strke cearly announces its nderence toard matera gan through conquest by decaring t ntetion to abolsh the state; the sate wa reay the basi o te exstence o the rulng goup wo n al ther enterprises benet rom he burdens bone by the publc. Whlethe rst orm o nterruption o work s vioet since t causes only an externa odicaion o abor conditions the second,as a pure means, s nonviolen For t takes place not n readness to resume work oowing externa concessons and this

• Sore l, Refxions sur la volnc, 5t ed. Paris 1919, p. 250•



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or that modication to working conditions, but in the determination to resme only a wholy transform work no longer

enorced by the state an upheaval tha this kind o strike noso mch case as consmmates. For this reason the rs of he ndertakings is lawmaking but the send chistcTaing p occasiona statemens by Marx Sorel rejects every kind of program o utopia-in a word of lawmakingforhe revolutionary movement: "With the nal strike alhese ne thngs disappe; the revotion appes as a clear

simpe rolt, and no place i reerved either for the ocosts or for the elegant amaters of socia reforms or for the ntelectals who have made i their profesion to tink forhe proletariat Against this dee mora and nuiney revoltionary nception no objection can stand that seekson gronds of is posiby tastrophic coneqences to

brand sch a general strike as vioent Even if it can rightly be sd that the modn enomy seen as a whoe reembles mch less a machine that stands idle when abandone by ts stoer han a bea that goes bserk as soon a it amerturn his back nevertheess the vioen of an action n assessed no more om it eects than om ts ends bt only frm the law of ts means tate power of corse which has

eyes only for eects opposes presey this kind of strike orits alled vioence as distinct om partia strikes which or the most part actay extortionate The extent towhch ch a rigoros conception of the general strike as such s capable o diminishing the incidence of actal violenc e

in revoltions ore has explained wi highly ingenios argments By ntrast an otstandng example of vioenomssion more immoral and crder than the poltica generalstrike akin · a blockade is the strike by doctors sh s several German cities have seen In thi s revealed at ts most pellent an nsplos se of vioence hat s ptvely depraved in a professional class hat or years wthothe slightest attempts at resistance secred death ts prey

and then at the rst opportni abandoned life of ts own



Cue f Vlence

e will. More clarly than in recent class struggles, he meansof nonviolent agrment have deloped in thousand of

yars of he hstory of state Only occasionally does thetask of diplomats in their transctions conist of modicatonsto legal systems Fundamntally thy have, ntirely on theanaly of agrement btwen private pons, to resolvenicts case by cse, in the names of tir states, peacefullyand wthout contacts A delicate task tht s more robustlyperformed by refee, but a mthod of soluon tat inprincipl i abov that of the rferee bcause it is byond llgal system and threore beyond violence Accordingly lik intercourse o private persons, that o diplomats has egended its own fo and vrtus, which wr not alwaysme formalitis, evn though thy have bome so

Among all the form of violence permitted by both natural

law and poitive law there is not one that is ee o the grvlyproblmatc natur, already indicatd, o all lel violnceSince, however, evy concivabl lution to hum problems,

not to speak of deliverance om the connes of ll th worldhistoricl ndtions o istnc obtainng hihrto, reinimpossble i violence is totally excluded in principle, hqueston necssarily rises a to oter kinds of violence an

all those nvisd by legal thory It is at the sam tim thequstion of the ruth o the basic doga comon to bothoris: just ends n be attaned by justid mans, justiedmeans ud for just ends How would it be, hfore, if all he violen imposd by fate, using justied means, wre o iself in rreconcilabl conict wth just ends, and if at the same

m a dirent kind of volen came into view that rtainly uld be ithe the jtied or th unjustidmas to those nds but was not relatd to them a means atall but in some dint way? This would hrow light onthe urious and at rst discouragng discovery of the ultimateinsolubility of al lgl problems (which in its hoplnesis perhaps mparabl only to the posiblity of conclusive

pronouncements on "rght and "wrong i evolving ln-



Reections

ages). For it is never reason that decides on the justicationof means and the ustness of ends, but te-imposed violence

on the former and God on the latter And insight that is uncommn only because of the stubborn prevailng habit of conceiving those ust ends as ends of a possible law that isnot only as generally vid (whi follows analytically fromthe nature of ustice) but also as capable of generalizationwhih as could be shown ntradicts the nature of justiceFor ends that for one situation are ust universally acceptable

and valid are so r no other situation no matter how smilart ay be in other respects The nonmediate function of violence at issue here is ilustrated by eryday experience As regards man he is impeed by anger for example to the mostvisible outbursts of a violen that s not related as a means to a preconived end It is not a means but a manifestaionMoreover this vioen has thoroughy obective maniestations n which it n be subected to criticism These are tobe found most signicantly above all in myth

Mythica violence in ts archetypal form is a mere manifestation of the gods Not a means to their ends sarcely

anife staton of their will but rst of all a manifestation otheir istence The legend of Niobe contans an outsanding

eample of this True it ght appear that the action of Apolo and rtis is only a puniment But their violene establishes a law far more than it punishes for the inngeent of one aready existing Nibe's arrogance calls downfate upon itself not because her arrogance oends ainstthe law but beuse it chalenges fateto a ght n whichate ust triumph and can bring to light a aw only in ts

rumph How litte such divine violence was to the ancientthe lawpreserving violence of punishment is shown by the eroic lends in whih the herofor eample Prometheuhallenges fate wh ignied coura ghts t with varying fortune and s not left by the legend without hope of one ay brnging a new law to men I s really this hero and the

legal vlence of the myth native to him that the public tries



Crtque of Volence

ictue een nw in admiing the misceant Vilence theefe ursts upn Nibe m the uncetain ambiguus

sphee f fate It is nt actually destuctive Althugh itbin a uel death t Nbes children it stps sht f the life f teir mthe whm it leaves behind mre guilty thanfe thugh the death f the childen bth as an eteallymute beae f guilt ad as a bunday stne n the ntiebetween men and gds 1£ this immediate vilence in mythicalmanifestatins pves clsely elated indeed identical t lawmaking vilen it eects a pblematic light n lawmaking vilence insfa as the latter was chaacteied abve in the accunt f militay vilence as meely a medate vilenceAt the same tie this cnnectn pmises futhe t lluminate te which in all cases undlies legal vilence and tnclude in bad utli the itique f the latte Fr the

functin f vilence in lawmaking is twfld the sense that lawmaking pusues as its end with vilence the meanswh is t be established as law but at the ment f nstatement des nt dismiss vilence; rathe at this vey mmt f lawmaing, it specically establishes as law nt an end un·allyed by vilence ut ne necessaily and intiately undt it under the title f pwe Lawmaing s pwer makn

d t that etent an immediate mifestatin f vilenceJustice is the pinple f all divine end main we the principle f all mythical lawmaking

An applicatin f the latt that has immense cnequencs t be fund in cnstitutinal law F n this sphere the estalishing f nties the task f "peace after all the wa f

the mythical age is the primal phenmenn f all lawmang vlence ee we mst clealy that pwe me thanthe mst extavagant gain in pty s what guanteey all lawmaking vilence Whe frntiers ae decided the advesay is nt simply annihilated ndeed he s accd ights even when the victrs supeity in pwe s cmlete And these ae in a demnically ambiguus way equal

ights: fr bth aties the teaty t s the same line that



Reecn

may not be ossed. Here appears, in a t eribly pmtve form, the same mythical ambiguity of laws that may not be

"ininged to which Anatole France refers tirically whenhe says, Poor and i are equally forbidden to spend the night under the bris It al appears tat Sorel touchesnot merely o a ultural-historical but also on a metaphycauth in suising that in e beginning all right was the progative of the kings or the noblesi short, of the mighty; and that, mutatis muandis, it will main so as long

as it exss For om e point o view of violene, whichalone can guarantee law thee is no equality, but at most equally geat violence Te act of ing fontier howeveris also siicant for an understanding of law in anotherrespect. Laws and unmarked ontiers reain, at least inprimeval times unwitten laws. A man can unwittingly infin upon them and us incur retribution For eahinteention of law tat is provoked by an oense ainst the unwritt and unknown law is called in ntradistintio to punishment retribution. But hower unlukily t may

befall its unsuspeting victim its ocurence is in the understanding of the law not chan, but fate owing itself once again i its deliberate ambiguity Hean Cohen, in a

bef re8ecton on the anciens' cnctio of fate, has okenof e inescapable aliztion that it is fates ordes themse lves that to au and bing about this ininent,this oen· To this spirit of law even the mode principle that iorance of a law is not potection ainst punishment testies just as the strule ove wtten law in te early period of the anient Greek mmunities is to be understd

as a rebellio n against the spirit of mythical statutes.Far om inaugurating a pur sphere e mythical mani

station of immiate violence shows itself fundaentally intical with all lal violenc and tus suspicion coning the latte into tainty of the rniciousness of thistorical ncon the destrution of whch thus bemes

• Henan Chen, Etik s r Wll 2d .• B 197. p 362



Cque f Vlenc 297

obligatoy. This very task of destuction pes again, in thelast resort, the question of a pure immediae violence that

ight b able to ll a halt to mytl violence Just as inall sphees G opposes yth, mythical violence is ononed by the divine And the latte nsttutes its antithesis in allrespects If mythical volence is lawmaking, dvine violeneis law-desroying; if e fomer sets boundaies, te latter

boundlessy destoys em if mythica violence bin at once guilt and etibution, dvine powe only expiates if thefoe threatens, the latte stkes if the fome is blody,the latte is lethal without spilling blo The legend of Niobe may b cononte as an eample of his violen wih G's judgment on the ompany of Koah. It sikespivileged Lites, stikes them wihout wanin witoutheat, and does not stop short of annhilation But n

annihilating it also epiates, and a de connection betweenthe lack of blded and the expiatory chaacter of his

violence is unmisakable F blod is he syml of meelife The diolution of legal violence stems, cannot show i detail hee, om the guilt of more natua li, which consigns the living, innont and unhappy, t o a bution hat "epiates the gUilt of ee lifeand doubtless

also puies the guilty, not of guilt, oweve, but of law. Fo with mee life the ule of law ove the living ceases Mythical violence is bldy pow ove mee life for its own sake,divine violence pure powe ove l li fo the sake of heliving The st demands saci, the send aceps it

This divine power is attested not only by elious tradition

but is als found in pentday life in at least one sanctionedmanifstation The educative powe, which in its pefcedform stands ouside the law, is one of its manifestations Theseare den, therefoe, not by miacles directly pefomed by G, but by te epiating moment in them that stikes without bldshed and, nally, by the aen of all lawmaking To this extent it s justiale call this violen,

too, annihilating but it is so only relatively, with egd o



Reetion

goods, right. life. and suchlike. never absolutely. with readto the soul of the lvn The premse of such an extenson

of pure or divine power is sure to provoke. partcularly today,the most violent reactions and to be countered by the argument tha taken to its logil concluson t confers on meneven lethal ow aganst one another This. however nnotbe conceded� For the question "May I kll? meets ts ieducible answer n the commandment "Thou shalt not llThis comandment precedes the deed. just as God was

"preventin the deed But just a t may not e fear of punshment that enforces obedience, the njuncton becomesnapplicable incommensurable once the deed s aomplishedNo judment of the deed can be derved om the commandment And so neiher the dvne judment, nor te oundsfor this judment can be known in advance Those who

base a condemnation of all volent klling of one person byanoth on the commandment e therefore mstaken Itexists not as a terion of judgment but a gdelne forthe actons of persons or communtes who have to wrestlewith it n soltude and n exceptonal case take onthemselves the responsblity of inorin t Thus t wasunderstood by Judasm, whch expressly ejected the nde

naton of killn n self-defense But those thnks who takete opposed vew refer to a more dstant theorem. on whchthy possbly propose to base even the commadment itselfThs s the doctrne of the sanctity of lfe which they eitheapply to all animal even veetable life. or limt to hmanlife hei rumentaton exemplied in an extreme caby te rolutonary killn of the oppressor runs as follows:If I do not kill I shall never establsh the word domnonof justice . • that s the aument of te ntellent terrorst We however, profess that hier even than the happnessand justice of stence stands existence tself .• A certanlyas tis last proposton s fase. ndeed noble, it shows thenecessty of seekin the reason for the commandment no longe

KUt Hr I a ybok of D Ziel.



tique o Voene

n what the deed does to the vctm, but n what t e d and the dor The proston tat exstence stand

hgher than a just exsten s lse and gnomnous, f exstence s to mean notng other than mere fand t hasths meanng n te arument referrd to It contans a mhtytruth, however, f exstence, or, better, lfe (words whoseambguty s readly dspeled, analously to that of freedomhen they are refeed to two dstnt spheres), means teeduble, total condton that s man; f the propostons ntended to mean that the nonexstence of man s somethng more terrble than the admttedly subordnate) notyet·attan condto of e just man To ths ambuty teroposton quoted above owes ts plaublty an cannot,at any rce, be sad to conde wth the mere lfe n hm,no more tan wth a othe of hs condtons and qualtes,

not even th the unqueness of hs body person Howeversacd man s or that fe n hm that s dentcaly preentn earthly lfe, death, and afterlfe), there s no sacredness nhs ndton, n hs bodly lfe vulnerabe to njury by sfellow men What, then, dstnues t essntally from the1£e of anmals and plants? And even f tee were sacred, theycould not be so by vrtue only of beng ve, of beng n

1£e It mght be well worth wle to tra down te ornof the dogma of te saedness of lfe Perhaps, ndeed pbably, t s relatvely rent, the last mstaen attempt of theweaened Western adton to see the sant t has lost ncosmoocal mpenetrablty The antquty of all relouscommandments aganst murder s no counterargument, be

cause the are baed on other deas than the mod theorem)Fnly, ths dea of mn's saredness gves ounds for reecton that what s here pronound aed was accordng to ancent mythcal thought the mared bearer of gult: lfetself

The crtque of volen s the phlosophy of ts hstorythe hlosophy of ths hstory, because only the dea of

development maes posble a al, drmnatng, and



300 Reectons

desve approah to ts temporal data A aze dreted onlyat what s lose at hand an at most pereve a dalectal

rsn and alln n the lawmakn and awpreservn oratons o volene he law oernn ther ollaon restson the rustane that al lawpreservn volen n tsduraton ndretly weakens the lawmakn volene represented by t throuh he suppresson o hostle untervolence arous sympoms o ths hae been reerred to

the ourse o ths study) hs lasts untl ether new ores rthose earer suppressed rumph oer he hhero lawmakn volene and thus ound a new law destned n ts turn to deayOn the breakn o ths yle mananed by myhcal ormso law on the suspenson o law wth all he orces on whcht depends as they depend on t nally thereore on theabolton o stae power a new hstoral epoch s ounded

I the rule o myh s broken ocasonaly n the present ae,the omn ae s not s unmanably remoe hat an attakon law s altoether ule But he exsne o volenceoutsde the law as pure mmedate oene s assured thsurnshes the proo tha reoluonay voence he hhesmanestaton o unalloyed olene by man s possble andby what means Less possbe and also less urent or humanknd howeer s to decde when unaloyed voence has eenrealzed n partular ases or only myhcal volene notvne wll be reonabe as such wh ceranty unless t ben ncomparable ees becaue the expaory power o olence s not sble to men nce aan all e eternal orsare open o pure dne voence whch myh bastardzed wh

law It may manest tsel n a rue war exactly as n thedvne jumen o he muude on a cmnal But allmyhal lawmakn volene whh we may call exeutve spernous ernous too s he lawpresern admnstratve oence that seres t Dne voene whh s the snand seal but neer he means o sacred exeuon may becalled soverein volene

Benjamin W - Critique of Violence

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