Pin vay awn nHIAyna OrANNAn DASPA NV7DF DANN AND YIY 59 MYYT PN PA WIDY DDI 7 IN DIIONOA NOTA IIND IZA IND POSS 99 U3 AVIA TAIT AION ATIN TNST WWIII 717903 777Waller Boron sok ars sarRe) soe® un dws) 6 -G\ Critique of Violence IShA LOG “The task ofa ruque of violence can be summasized as that cof expounding its relation to law and justice. For cau, howeter fective, becomes vatent im the precise seme ofthe word. only wen it beats om morales. The sphere ofthese So Coaher Reniarnr » Cobiqus of Uslense MOS Ruane byte oncpn of tw and june Weg a vy 7 ‘co the first of these, itis lear dhat the most elementary rele S in: Soleckec Clibingt, Ul! rp idm any lea en na fed oem i fur tat ence ean Bs be ugh ony the wen of .o CBeltnap/Horsaval (99%) bp. 199- Bee ‘Rea nt of end These aberration provide a rie of _ eiewe wit moreand ea) ifeenprenier than Re ota sppeis Fora vince 2 en eon for Rk iting it sbght seem imsmedistely avallable. It impoxes : itself in the question whether wolence, fm given eae Isa x fneans toa jut or aa unjos end. A etigue of ic would den te implied in assem of ust ends. This, however, isnot $0. ] For what sich asst, asuming Teco be scare against all Aoube would contin snot criterion for vatence sell 26a principle, but rather, the terion for cues of its we. The fuesion would remain open whether violent, a principle, foul be a moral means eten to just ends. To resolve this ques tion a more exact ettetion ie need, whic would dist ‘nate within the sphere of means themselves, without regard for | ‘he end hey serve ‘The excision ofthis more precise eral approach is per haps dhe predominant fetore of 4 main eutrent of Lega phi ‘oop: ator law. Ie perceives inthe eof violent means \ {o jus ends no greater problem than a man ses in his “tight” to move his body inthe direction of 2 desired goal, Arcon jing oes view (lor which the terri in the French Revol 27{ 278 Reflections on provid nlp endo vein rod Slur sieves cov maa tee a hh ane “ey poten vle elena rj ete ering he nyo sae of aura ay poe ithesiseace fr het ae ei done sumption (ch pn fore tae eps Tracts Thao alin tani lr te Conan of hol ema ae re he tt sheath le shat nde pen Pap Shee lew ave es then by Deis iso, wid ns rtp dope nmr oud lee the on exigent ean fe anual sen pepe "eoal vied a re Pope Darvin lor Sphyaroteahor ws iim thom ‘Str hone te nl ure of ep peo ic ethic at a le pops ‘Saul ey a shes of aul aw oad lene a a aa sata asta pono ot ote ih tes ine ars poi of iy trl aw jae {Tex iawollng ede wo pear eah Jedgeal tng only nein to mean jue theron ods gyn fens Notting thi anthess wec hd wt men om baie dogo: jensen stated ys ans ot fel met wd or jt ede trl ey Oy he Iitmc of een oo the mca, oe ae Hp nina tech age jin cf nee Tsaninny wos pve nie! co ‘on dognaic utp vow jul meant oe os an a cd one er rere niece cratic. No ni in herbie cd be ul, be tre er gent been eed tay independ Vso utc nd a aed imaorecblied “Teli af nd an there ao ce quan of 4 Gritique of Violence 29 aiterion of josines, is excluded forthe time being rom this rudy Instead, the central place i given to the question ofthe jwtfcation of certain meane that conatitute violence. Prine Ciples of matra law eannot decide thie question, but can only Tea to boonies casuity. Fort pose law sind 10 the sbuoutenest of en natura law in equally 10 10 the com tingencyof means. On the oder and, the psive theory of law is acceptable asa ypothedkal bari tthe oust of thit snudy, Because i undertakes 2 fundamental distinction be: ‘een Kinds of violence independendy of ees oftheir apps ‘ation, This distinction i between historically acknowledge, ‘eailed sanctioned violence, and unsanctioned violence. the following considerations proceed frm hist canno, of cour, ‘mean that given forme of violence are dasied in terms of Ivhether they are sanctioned or not. For in aeitque of vie Tence criterion forthe Interim postive law cannot concern its ues but only it evaluation. The queson that concert us i what light thrown on the natare of violence by the fact that mich 2 etetion oF distinction can be applied toe tal for in other words, what isthe meaning of this distinction? ‘That this distinction supplied by positive law i meaningtl, tused on the nature of violence, and irreplaceable by any ‘other, will won enough be shown, but atte sme time light will be aed on the sphere ia whieh alone such a distinction ‘an be tae To sum ups ifthe eterionexablishe by posi tive law to ates the legality of violence cam be analyzed with fegard to it meaning, then the whereof ppliealon must ‘be ctl wih eg tite wale. Fortis exkque a stand point outside postive legl philosophy but also outside natural Jaw must be found. The extent to which it can only be fa ished by historia philoophical view oflaw will enetge “The meaning of the disinetion beeween legitimate and ‘Megtnate violence is not immesitly obvious. The mis ‘understanding in natral law by which 2 dstintion i drawn ‘eoween silence tied for just and uajuse ends must be ex hati rejected. Rather, thar alee been indiated that380 Reflections postive Inw demands of all violence a proof of its hisoieat ‘tgin, which under ersin conditions is declared legal, sane tioned. Since the acknowledgment of legal vilenee is mor tangibly evden ina deliberate sbsision ois ea, a hypo. ‘beta ditinion between hinds of violence muse be basa fon the pretence or abrence of «general historia! sknow tsdgment of sends. Ends chat lack such acknowledgent may be called natural ends the oder legal ends The difering {anction of violence, depending on whether it serves natal oF legal ends, canbe most clearly traced againt a background of specific legal conditions. For the rake o simplicity, the follow: {ng discusion wll relate to contemparaty European conditions Caractere of these a frat the individual as legal sub {ect s concerned, isthe tendency not adie che natural ends ‘of such individuals in all hore eases in which such end could, fn a given scuton, be wefully pursued by violence. This ‘mesos: ths legal ester ees to erect im all areas where in Aivdal ends could be wselully pursued by violence, legal ends ‘bat can enly be relied by legal power. Indeed esis to Tinie by legal endseven chore ast in wich natural ends ate Admitted in prinple within wide boundaries, lke that of fducation, as soon as these natural ende ate pursutd with an fexcesve measure of violence, a in the live telatng to the limits of educational authority to punish, Ie canbe formalated ‘ara general maxim of presene-day Esropeanlogiaton that ll ‘the natural ends of individuals must collide with legal ends ‘pursued witha greater or leer degre of violence (The com. ‘raion between this and the right of weli-etene will be ‘evolved in what follows) From dus maxi i follows that lw sees violence in che hands of inividvale nea dager under mining the legat sytem. As a danger ming legal ends and the eal executive? Certainty not for then velence as uch ‘would not be condemned, but ony that ircted toilegal ends 1 il be argued that a sytem of legal ends cannot be main tained if natural end ae anywhere all pursued violently. La the rst place, however, thir ra mere dopa. To countee it Critique of Violence 281 ne nigh peaps conde the spring potty hte Inv intr int onoply of lence vv nda itt enphine ty the ntenson of psn leg ends at ‘ether ht of pring he aw tht wlenc wen own the hands the aw het ot y the ni cat irony pore bt by fore ere outie the ne THe fine any be mee Bly pene fone rec ow Sten te gro theyre” cal Howee eel i as ay have been, hr owed ewer seat ofthe fue Ths canoe ret fom his ee, bony fo the Molec o which ar wns Inti cm tee, the Wolo of which prec dy ny Is seking in a ares of etsy to depive the insenl pper ely hstening a awe ven in dette pay a the a Mai itm By what anton lence am with eon se 0 en tring eae ened byt mo be epealy vet ‘hae it epliton ve In Ge prac pl ot, ermine “Tiss shoe alse cae ne ds srg inthe frm of she wore’ gunoncd ight fo whe. Onl be Soro te sate probly oy che ony gl jet {Hed to eee vksce, Apt tow the ny the ejeton thts oi of ncn omacton, which ‘tke rly connn te Serbo vec Such 3 cm ‘ron dtc mde ener os tte owe 1 coeive She rig te arte one shinee oe longer viable Ba trait it enceiconal, nd thea nor ure He ous simply oa ieveing of ston” cn bean enely ‘one pte ea An in the vw tthe wo he inert rig to site conc tober en et & ‘iit to execs ven bt ath, co sep rom lence inde exec by he employer, rier enfrming ts tay endsbedy eco om tie fie and inva only 2 “rithrava” or erangemert rom he employ. The Wo Inet len, weer neal inode, fo the282 Reflections form ofextortio, igo such an omision, iit aks plac inthe context o€ « conscious readines 10 resume the suspended action under eeain circumstances that ether have nothing ‘whatever to do with this action or only evpefcally moi Understood inchs way, the wight to strike constitutes in the view of labor, which is opposed to that ofthe state the right to we fore ia staining certain ends. The antithesis beeen the ‘yo conceptions emerges inal it biernesin face of arevol- Sionary general site. In ths, labor will always appeal ots ight to aike, and the sate wil all this appeal an abuse, since the right wo srike was nt "so itended" and take emer. gency meshes, For the tate retains the right to dedar sat = simultaneous use of srke i all industries iillegl, since the specie eaons for suike admived by legiation cannot be ‘revalent in every workshop. In this dference of interpreta tions expresied the objecivecomtadiction in the leg situa tion, whereby the state acknowledges a violence whose ends 3, ‘natural ends, it sometimes regards with inference, but ina ‘isi (he revolutionary general stike) confronts inimical For, however paradosel this may appear at fist sight, even ‘conduct involving the exercise of aright en neverthelew, Un er eran circumstances, be deeribed a violent. More spec cally, suc conduct, when active, may be called violent if it ‘exerci aright in order to overtrow the legl este that has ontered i; when passive, tis nevertheless to be so deseibed i i connitues extortion in the sen explained above. It therelore revels an objective contraicsion in the leg sua. ‘lon, bu nota logis eantraiction in he nwt under certain sireumstances the law meets the ikers, a8 perpetrators of Violence, with violence, For ina aie de at fens above all tse that function of violence whieh ifthe eject his sy 1 ideatify asthe only secure foundation of is critique. For it olence were a first appears, merely the means to seeure dlivecy whatever happens tobe sought could fll send ‘as predatory violence. Tewould be ene unsuitable as bass for, or a medication to relatively sable conditions. The Critique of Violence 283 se shows, however, that ican be, hat isale wo found fd sadly Iga condtions, however offend the ene of juice ny Sod ell chee, I il be objected that sch function of wlence i forts and ited. TR an be rebutted by a omidraon of military won. “Te poi of itary Iw rex on exaly the same objective contradiction inthe leg station at doe hat of fee aw that isto nyo the at hel bjt ction tiolence whose ens ein for the sanctions natal ed nd can cherfre in cis ee it cont wth thie own iegl or natural ends, Adit, itary wolene fe the fs place ued quite dc a predstory vile, toward itende Yin senyshing that vena, rater, pede “in primkve condtons shat know hardly the Begining of onan lane od even in eaves where the vco sablaied imei ininvolneable poscsion, a pce cee tmony i entirely nceary nee, the word peace in the feme in which ic the corel tothe word "wa (or {here is aio a quite diferent esning, simi unneaphor ical an pital, the one wd by Kan naling of “Etr eae) denote this pron neeanry cong, reg. of all oter Iga conditions. of every vcry. TH anton onsite precy in recogniing the new coniton 4 Ree aw” ite rgadlen of whether they teed de foto 30 funantee of tee continuation If theretr, concaton on te drawn fom military tence ae being primordial and par Aigmati ofa violence wed for natural ey there i inerent {nsltsuh violence nwmaking character We al carn ner {0 the implication of shit Iniht- 1 explnins the show Ientioned tendency of modern law to les the Inna Belew a0 Tea subject of al woken, even tat rected ony 10 natral ens Inthe gent criminal his Woence con fron the aw wh the hen of dectarng anew Ia het that even today, despite ts impotence in iporan naan ores the pubic eH din primeval ines. The wate, weve, ear this iene spl for is lwahing character284 Reflections ‘beng oie to acknowledge ta nwmaking whenever ests: taal powers foree it to concede them the Hight to conduct. sete, and Gases the ight to she fin the ls war the erique of liary violence was the stantng point for a paslonate critique of lence in geaeral— which taught at least one thing tat violence is no longer ‘xercaed ad tolerated mavel}neverdeles, lence was not ‘only sibject to ei for its awning character, but was also judged, perhaps more annihilating, for another of fs funcions For a duality in the fancion of violence i char acteristic of miliarisa, which could only come into being ‘rough general conscription. Mitra ‘ the compulsory, ‘univer tie of violence a4 + means tothe ends of the sat. ‘This compulsory use of violence has recently been serutinied as dovly a of all more dosely han, the ase of violence uel In It wolence shows Wulf i a funeon quite dierent ‘tom is simple appieton for natural ends Tt coms in the ‘we of violence a3 means of legal ends. For the subordination of citizens to Iawe—in the present case, the law of generat ‘conseription—isa legal end. I that fst fueton of violence is called the lawaakiog fonction, this econd willbe called the Iasepresering function, Since conscription is 2 ave of la reteingvilence that notin principe dsnguished fom thers, a sell efectve critique of fa le easy than the Aledanatons of pact and activists ngget. Rather, wich a ‘iq coincides withthe critique ofall leg vilence—that {5 wid the erigue of legal or executive force—and cannot be prformed by any Teer program. Nor, of couree—unles: fone is prepared to proclaim » quite childish anarchism t Achieved by fefusng to acknowledge any constaint toward penons and declaring "What pleases Is permitted” Such ‘maxim merely excludes telecon on the moral and Mistrial spheres and theeby on any meaning in action, and beyond {his on any meaning in reality full, which cannot be com stated if “action” i removed fom its phere, Mor important s the tact that even the appeal, so frequently atempted, 0 Critique of Violence 285 the cteorical imperative, with is doubles: inconeuable tine prograi~act in ich 2 way that 2 all ines you use ‘bumaniy boi i your peron and in the pees of ll obers van end and never ntely ata means ie iondegoate for such a crtque For pone la, if conscious of it oot ‘will certainly santo acknowledge and promote the inerest ‘Of mathind i the petwn of each individual. sees his inter ‘tin the representation and preservation of an order imposed by fate. While thie view, which claims to preserve law tn ts sey bis eanot ape cm, neverthele al alas that te mde metly in the mum of «forms “feedon” without being able to specify this higher order of feedom, remain import gaint it. Aad most impotent of all when insead fof attacking the legal sytem root and Branch, they lenpugn particular laws or legal practices tha the law, of couse takes under the protection of is power, which reds inthe fet thar dere only one fate and dat what exit, and ia pe ticular what cretens, belongs invilaly tot onder. For aw preserving violence isa drentening violence, And it threat fenot intended atthe deterrent that uninformed itera thor ie interpret itt be. A deterrent in the exact sense would requires certainty tat contradicts the nature of 9 thvea ad {stot atained by any lw, since there i alway hope of ela {ng its arm. This nes ial the more threatening, Hhe ae, fon which depends whether te ciminal ie apprehended. The Aleepest purpose of the uncertainty of the lege teat wil femerge (rom the later consideration of the apere of fate in hich i originates, Thee isa wef ponte toe in the pre ‘of punishnents Among them, since the validity of positive Taw as been called nto quetion, capital panisiment has pro- ‘voked more erm than all others, However sper the ryuments may in most canes have been, thee motives were Sand are rooted in principle ‘The opponents of these exits286 Reflections fet, perhaps without knowing why and probably involuntarily, ‘hat an attack on capital punishment asails, ot legal mens tre, not laws, But law Hell in es engin. For 1 violence, olence owned by ft tthe oign of law, thea ie may be feadily supposed at where the highest violence, that over ‘ieand deat, occurs in the legal yer, the origins of ajuk ‘manifely and fearomely ino existence. In agement ith ‘hiss the fact thac the death pene in primitive legal systems [is impowed even for such eres as ofenss against prope’, {to whieh ise quite out of “proportion” Is purpoe snot to punish the infringement of law but wo esblish new law. For in the exrcie of violence over life an death more tha {a anyother legal at lave rear ell, But i tie very vio- lence something roten in Taw i revealed, above all oa Bnet senshilty, because the Iter knows itelf to be infinitely 1e- ‘mote from conditions in which fte might inpeiousy have Shown itll in such a sentence. Reason must, however, ate to approach such conditions al the more reautely i isto ‘ring to conclusion ite eitique ofboth Lawman and law reserving lence ‘ina Lar more unnatural combination than i the death pen sly, in a hind of pectrl mixtre, thee two form of woence fe preset in another inition ofthe modern sate, the police. Tre, hiss wotence for legal ends (in the right of die poston, but withthe simultaneous authority to decide thee nds et within wide limits Ga the right of decree). The ig. rnominy of such an authority, whichis fee by few simply be ‘lus I ordinanesssulfce only seldom for the erodet 4, Dut are therefore allowed to rampage all the more blindly in ‘he most vulnerable area and asin thinker from whom the sexe Is not protected by Iaw—thi ignominy His in the fact, {Bat ia this subority the separation of lawmaking and lave preserving vilence is suspended. Ifthe fst is required prove its worth in victory, the second is subject tothe restrie- ion that fe may not st Iself new ends. Police violence is ‘emancipated fom both conditions. It i Iswnaking, fr Kt Critique of Violence 287 haracterit funecon is nt the promulgation of laws bu the assertion of legal calms for any deace, and law preserving, ‘because i i at the dipsal ofthese ends. The aetion that, the ends of police violence ae alway Mendel or even com rected co those of general law i ently untrue. Rade, the Tw" of te police relly mars the pont at whic the sate, acheter from impotence or because of te immanent conne. tions within any legal ster, can no longer guarantee chrough the legal sytem the empirial ends cat i desires at any price to mtain. Therefore the plieimervene "Tor security tesons” in oundess cases where no clear legal situation exis, when ‘hey ate not merely, without the ight elation to legal ends, accompanying the zen aba brtal encumbrance through 4 Tite regulated by ordinances or simpy supervising him. Unlike Jaw, which acknowledge inthe “devson” determined by place and time a metaphysical extepory that gives 2 cai tt fal exaluation, 2 comideration ofthe police iauitution em Counters nothing eel a al. is power is ores, ike es nowhere tangible, al-pervaive, ghouly presence in hele of Cisled sate. And thovgh the police may, in particulary, ‘everyere appear the sane, i eannot Bray be denied that thei pri sess devastating where they repent, arate ‘monarchy, he power ofa rule in which legsative and exces tive supremacy ae united, than im democracies where their exitence, elevated by no such relation, bears witness tothe greatest conceivable degeneration of voles, All Voleace asa means iether Inwnaking or law peters Ing. Ii ays lam co neither of these predicates fret all vali. efotows, however, that all vckence as 2 means even in the moa favorable cases implicated in the probleme nature of Iw Tell. And if the importance ofthese poles ‘annot be assed with certainty at thir stage of the inves ‘ation, law neverthlest appears fFom what ts been sd in 4 ambiguous a moral light thatthe question pos icelt ‘whether there ate no other than violent shea for seguating ‘config human interes Weare above all obligated to note288 Reflections that a totally nonviolent reslution of conflicts can never lead to 8 legl contract. For the later, however peacefully it may dnave Ben entered inte by the partes leads Bally to posible violence Ie coners on both partis the right to take recourse {0 violence in some form agains the othe, should he break ‘Ge agreement. Not only that like the outcome the origin of ‘very conuract alo points toward violence. Tt need not be rectly prevent in i as lavmakingwolenet, but i represented in ic insofar asthe power that guarantees lea contrat iin tam of violent oxigin even if violence not intedced int the contract ital When the conslousnes ofthe latent pres ence of violence in a legal institudon disappears, he Sasi on tts into deny. tn our dine, parliaments provide an ‘example ofthis. They offer the familiar, wool specace be ae they have not remained conscious of the revoltiontry forces to which they owe thei exitenee. According, i Ger ‘many in particular the last manifestation of such frces bore ‘ofr or parliaments. They lack the sense that a Lawmsking Violence is represented by themselves. no wonder that hey ‘eansot achieve decrees worthy ofthis violence, but culate {in compromises supposedly noavilent manne of dealing with potial airs. This remains, however, a "product stusted within the mentality of volene, no matter how t may disdain all open violence, because the effort toward compromise is rotated not internally but from outde. by the opposing ‘fort, beause no eompromie, however rely acepe om civable without a compulive character." would be beer ‘others’ isthe underlying feeling in every compromise" Significant, the decay of parliament has perhape alienated 2 many minds from the idea of 3 nonviolent reoltion of pols! conde as were auacted tit by the war The pa fsx are conlronted by the Bolsheviks and Syne, These have efeced an annitilating and on the whole apt critique of presencday parisments Neverthelesy, however desirable and graying ¢Hourehing pariament might be by compar Ung, eh and Mets, 3, Critique of Violence 289 son, a discussion of means of palitcal agreement that ae in principle nonviolent cannot be eoncined with planer taranism, For what parliament shies in vital srs an only be thore legal decrees hat a their origin and outeome are attended by violence. 18 any nonviolent resolution of confce posible? Without doubt. The relationships of priate persons are full of ex: amps of this Nonviolent agreement is ponble wherever 4 ive outook allows the use of alloyed means of agree ‘ment, Legal and illegal means of every Kind that ae all the ‘ne violent may be confronted with nonviolent ones 35 alloyed means. Courtesy, sympathy, peneebleness us. and whatever elie might here be mentioned, are thet subjective preconditions. Ther ebjectine manifestation, however, i de ‘ermined by the law (dhe enormous scope of which cannot be discus her) that unallyed means ate never thos of eet but always thoe of indtet solutions. They therfore ever apply dircly tothe resoltion of confct between mat sod ‘an, but only to mates concerning objects The aphere of ‘onvolent means opent up in the realm of human conics relating to goods, For this reason tecnique in the broaden seme af the word is thee mos particular areas profound example is perhaps the conference, considered as technique of civil agreement. For init aot ony is nosvolen agreement posible, bt ain the achsin of item pti ‘explicitly demonstrable by one signscant fscor thst fe Mo sanction for Tying. Probably no legitaton on earth orginally sipulated such a scion. This maker cleat that there is & sphere of human agreement that is nonviolent to the extent that it is wholly accesible to valence: the proper sphere of “understanding” language. Only nt and in a peculiar process ‘of decay has it ben penetrate by Ii vislence in the penalty placed on fraud. For wherent the legal system at is origin, trusting tits victorious power is content to defeat lwbreak ing wherever it happens to show Heel, and deception, having lute tace of power abou i, was onthe pincple us cle290 Reflections igitonibu rium et exempt fom punishment in Roman and ancient Germanie law, the la of + Lter perio, lacing ‘onfitence in its own volene, no longer fle ita match for that ofall others. Rater, far of te Iter and rsrot of icf indieat is declining vitality. Te bine co set il ends, ‘with the intenion of sparing law preterving violence more ‘axing manifestations. earn to rsa therfore, not out of ‘oral considerations, bus for fea ofthe violence that it might ‘unleash in che dtvauded pare. Since sch fur confit with te violent nature of lw derived from it origng sch end are Inappropriate wo che justsed mene of lav. They refect ot, ‘only the decay of i own sphere, bu aio a diminution of pure reans. For, in prohibiting fraud, law setts the use of holly nonviolent means because they could produce reactive olene. This tendency of Iw has also played apart in the ‘conceion ofthe right to strike, which coma the interests ofthe state Te grants this right because it forsale violent actions the sate is aia to oppose. Did not workers previ ‘ously reor at once to sabotage and set fre to factor? To Induce men to reconcile thee interests peacefally without in- volving the lege tem, there iy in the end, apart fron all Vrtwes, one eflctive modve dat often enough pus into the ‘os reluctant kands pure instead of vilent means ei the fear of matul diadvantages chat threaten to aie from vio: leat confrontation, whatever the outome might be. Such 0- Les are cll vibe in coundss eater of cont of interest Deiwesn private pertons I is diferent when cits and na tions are in confit, since the higher orders that threaten to overwhelm equaly veto and vanquished ate hidden from the feelings of rox, and fom the intelligence of alist al. ‘Space doesnot here permit me to trace such higher orders and ‘he common interests corcesponding to them, which consitute ‘he most enduring motive fra policy of pure meane* We can ‘ereore only point to pure meant in polls as analogous Critique of Violence aor to howe which govern paca ntrcoure Between private enon ‘Ar read a sugges in them sike must under e- tun coaionsbe sen ata pe means. Two eset ie {cea Lind of she the poles of which have ae tee comidereds must now be mote ly racer. Sore {etme cedio~tom poli, her than porely eoretil consderstions—of having Se diinguihed them. He con tr them athe pie aod the poeatian gene ste “Tey ae sso anita nthe elon wo lence. OF the arta ofthe former be says: "The sengtening of sate over isthe bai of thei conepons inthe prset organ Iron the polians (the moderate socal) are alexdy reparingthe ground for strong etal and deplined over that willbe impervious rice fom the opposition, {Spat of nosing sen, an offing mendaous de cee" "The pola genera are demon State wl lowe none o strength how power liom the privileged tothe prvege, how the mass of pro lcs wil ange eee maser” Un contrast thi pits] general aie (which incidentally ent have been sumed ‘py we abortive Geman resolution), he poetarian general sik vets tale sole tk of ening wate power. It uli all the Lesage! consequence of every pale > inl poley: ia pata se even the mo popular rem 4 tourgele” This gener uke deny angoones soir tcc toward ene gin tnogh congo by deaing is foteton to abolish ean; she wate war relly the Ba lth exntence ofthe raling group, who in all tee enter nes benefit from the burdens tere bythe public” While the Bt form of interruption of werk alent nce toes cyan exteral odin of abr conn tesco, ssa pore meany i ronilet. For tats pac ot ned ‘to rene work flowing enteral concesons and hs See Réfexon a ile Pt 9 Resa Ye292 Reflections ‘or that modicatin o working conditions, bat inthe deter raton to resume only wholly wansformed work, no lnget enforced by the state, an upheaval tht this kind of strike not s0 mich causes as conummates, For this reson, the Bat of these undertakings is waking but the second anarchic ‘Taking up ocasionl satements by Mars, Sorel ejects every Kind of progam, of wopia—in a word, of lawmaling for Whe revolutionary movement: “With the general szbe all thes fin things dapper: the revolution appears asa lean, simple revolt, and no place ir reserved iter forthe soiolo- 8 of forthe elegant amateurs of soil reforms oF for the Inuallectuals who have made i their profsion to think for the proletariat” Anse this deep, ‘moral, and. genuinely revolutionary conception, no objection can sand dst seek fon grounds of its. posbly eatnaroptie consequence ‘brand sucha general suike at wolent. Even if ie can sight ‘be sad that the modern economy, ace ats whole reserblet ‘much lesa machine that stand dle when abandoned by it soker than a Beast that goes berets soon a ts ter {urns his back, neveheles the violence of an ation ean be sewed no more from is elects than trom its end, but ony from the law of its means tate power, ofcourse, which hat <7 only for elects. opposes rece this Kind ef tke for itu alleged violence, a6 dstine from partial sikes which se for the most part acwlly extortionate: The exont © hich such a rigorous conception of the general nike #8 such is capable of diminishing the incidence of actual violence in revolutions, Soret has explained. with highly ingenious arguments. By contra, an outstanding example of violent ‘mision, more immoral an err than the pli general seike, akin to 2 Dockde, isthe szike by doctor such as several German cies ave seen, In this is reves at et ‘ot repellent an unscrupulous use of violence that is post ‘ively depraved in a profesional cae that for years without the sights stempts at redstance, “secured death Is prey” and then atthe fst opporeunity abandoned life of fs own Critique of Violence 293 fice wll: More leary than in recent ls struggle, he means ‘of aoavolent agreement have developed in thowands of years of the history of states Only occasionally does the ‘ask of diplomats in Weir wansacions const of modietions to legal stems, Fundamentally they Ive, eatizly on the analogy of agreement between priate perons, t© relve confts ese by ese, in the names oftheir wes, peaetlly land widhout eoatracs A delicate task that fs more robustly performed by releres, but a method of solution that in Duinciple is above that of the reeree because i is beyond all legal sytem and shereforeBejond lence. Accordingly, He the intercoure of private pesions that of diplomats hs en gendered ies own forms and virtues, which were not always ‘mere fornaiin, eventhough they have become so “Among all the forme of wolence erated by bo natural Jaw and postive law there nat one that ie ofthe gravely problemstic nature, already Indicted, ofall lat violence Sine, howese, every eoneiable solution to human problem not to speak of deliverance from the confines ofall dhe word. historical conditions of existence obtaining hitherto, reneine Impossible if violence i totally excluded ia principle, the ‘qestion necnarily arises sto other Kinds of vislenee than, all Ghose envisage by legal theory It eat the same ime che ‘weston of the truth of the bale dogma common 1. both ‘heories: just ends can be attained by jotlied sea, juste reins used for jus ends How woul it be, therfore, if al the sfolence impose by fate, sing usted means, were of ive In ireconclable confit with just ends and if 38 the sme time a diferent kind of violence came into view thit ce tainly could be either the justifed or the unjuntifed ‘means to those en, but was not related to them ae mea at all but in some diferent way? This would throw Hight oa {he eaious and at fist discouraging aitcovery ofthe ulinate incolbility ofall legal problems (which i ie hopeenness {s perhaps comparable only to the posibilty of conclusive pronouncements on “right” and "wrong" in evolving lan spunea204 Reflections suaged, ori is never reason tat decides on the jasifiation of means and the Justa of end, but fteimpoted violence fon the former and God on the Iter. And insight that is ‘uncommon only beaus ofthe aubborn prevailing habit of conciving those just ends at ends of « pouibe lw, that i ‘ot only a8 generally valid (wbich follows anaytaly from the nature of juice}, but alto at capable of generation, hich, at could be shown, contadits the nature of justice For ends that for on stuation ae just universally acceptable, and valid ares for no othe situation, no mater how silat it may be in other respecte ‘The nonmediate function of ‘ilence at isu here is illsrated by everyay experience. AB regards man, he i ipelled by anger, for example, othe mote ‘ible outbursts ofa violence est isnot related at 2 means to a preconceived end. I i not a means but a manifetation ‘Moreover, this violence has thoroughly objective manifers tions in which i canbe subjected to ctcinm, These 376 0 tbe found, mo significa, above lla myth Mythical violence in i archetypal form is a mere mani {esaton ofthe gods Not a means to ther ends scarcely 4 smanifenation of thet will but st ofall a manifestation of thei existence: The legend of Niobe contains an outstanding fesample of this Trom it might appear at the action of ‘Apollo and Actemis sony a pnishtnest, But dhs violence ‘Stablishes «law far more than i punishes forthe ininge tment of one already exiting. Niobe's asrogaace calle down fate upon ua not because her arrogance olen against the Taw Bat becuse Ie callenges fate ght in which fate must wiomph, and can bring light a lw only fit telumph. How ue auch divine silence was tothe ancients the lewpraervng violence of punishment Is sown by the Ieroe legends in which the hero—for example, Promesheus— lallenges fst with digafed courage, ght ie with varying fortunes, and isnot left by the legend without hope of one day bringing a new law to men, Ils relly this hero and the legal violence of the myth naive to his that the public ie Critique of Violence 295 to picture even now in admiring dhe misaeant, Violence therefore burs upon Niobe from the uncertain, ambiguous sphere of fate Te ie not actually destructive. Although it ring cre death to Niobe’ children, it tops shor of the life oftheir mother, whom it leaves behind, more guilty than Defoe through the death ofthe children, both as an eternally ‘mute bearer of guilt and as boundary sone on the frontier ‘between men ad gods I this immediate violence in thal ‘manifestations proves closely related, ined iden to law ‘making violence, i reects a problematic light on Iwmaking violence, soar asthe latter was characterized above in the Account of military violence, a» merely a mediate violence. ‘At the sme tne this connection promises further to ilu ‘inate fst, which in all ete underlies legal violence, and 0 ‘ondude in broad outline the crcque ofthe Inte. For the fonction of violence in Tawnaking is ewotol, in the seme ‘tha Iawmaking pursues as its end, wih violence a the means, ‘hat ito be established slaw, but atthe moment of instate- sent doesnot dismiss violence; rather, at this very moment of Jawmaking, i specially establishes as law not an end une alloyed by viene, but one necesarily and lately bound to it under the te of power. Lawmaking is power making, sod, to that exten, an immediate manifestation of violence Juste isthe principle of al divine end making. power the Principe of ll mythical Iawmaking ‘An application of the later that has imense consequences to befound in constutional lave For i thi mpbere the tab- lishing of Roners, the ask of pace” afterall the ware of ‘he mythical age, i the primal phenomenon ofall Inemaking violence. Here we see most clearly that power, more chan the most extravagant gai in property, i what ie guaranteed by all lavanakng violence. Where tonter are decided the adversary is not simply annihilated: indeed, he ix accorded rights even when the Vetoes superiority in power iv com- plete, And thes ate, in a demonialy ambiguose way, “equal” rights: for both pares tothe weaty i x the same line that296 Reflections smay fot be cosed. Here appears, in a tesbly primitive form, the same mythical ambiguity of lave that may aot be infringed” to which Anatole France relers scaly when he say “Poor and rch are equally forbidden co spend the ight under the beidges” It alo appears that Sorel touches ‘ot merely on a cultural istoreal but alo on @ metaphysial tru in aursng chat in che beginning all eight wat the prerogative of the Kings or the nobles—in abort, of the ‘Bighy and that, mutatis mand, ie wil remain so as long, 2 i exes, For from the point of view of violence, which lone can guarantee lay here tno equality, but atthe mow equally reat violence, "The act of fixing frontier, however, ff alo spnifcant for an wndersanding of law in another expect Laws and nmarked frontiers remain, at Tart in primera times, unwriten laws, Aman can unvitngly {afenge upon them and thus incur retribution. For each {nuervencon of law tat i provoked by an offense aging the ‘unweluen and uakaowa law is called, in contadistineion ‘o punishnent, vesbution. But however waltckly ie may ‘ell ls unsuspecting vein, st ocurence I i the under standing of the lav, ot chanee, but fate showing Sue once fgain in is deliberate ambiguity, Hermann Cobea, ina ‘rel reletion on dhe ancients eanepton of ae, has spoken ofthe “incapable realiation” that i x “ates order these fever that seem to cause and bring about thie inlsingement, {his oflente"* To tis apt of law even the modern principle that ignorance of» lw ir not protection againe punishment tester, jose at the stuggle over writen Taw i the eat}y ‘eri ofthe ancient Greek communities is be undertood 384 reblton agus the spirit of mythical eaten Far from inawguating& porer sphere, the mythical mani {exation of immediate violence tows ivelf fundamentally denial wih all legal violence, and. turns supicion com ‘ering the latter into certainty of the pemicoues of is Istria function, the destruction of which thus becomes seman Cate, EU de einen Wy nde, et, en Critique of Violence 297 ‘obligatory. This very task of destruction poses again ia the last resort, the question of a pare immediate violence that night be able wo alla hale to mythical violence. Just a8 in all spheres God opposes myth, mythical vclence i contonted by the divine. And the Iter constitutes ie anuithes fall respec, mythical violence is Inwmnaking,diviae velnce is Tawedesuoying: Ifthe former sets boundaren, the later Doundiesly destroys them; if mythical violence beings at ‘once guilt and retbuton, divine power only expiater ifthe former threatens, the later stket if the former ir Bloody, the latter i lethal without piling blood. The legend of [Niobe may be confronted, a+ an example of tht vclenee, with God's judgment on the company of Korab. It xis Drvileged Levit, strikes them without warning, without Ayeat, and does not stop short of anailaton. But in annihilating i alto expates, and a dep connection between the lack of bloodshed and the expatory character of thit violence is unmistakable. For blood ie the symbol of mere Iie. The disoltion of legal vilence stems, at cannot be sown in detail here, ftom the guilt of move natural life which consgns the living, fanocent and nkappy, to ret ution that “expiates” the guilt of mere lila doubles also purifies the guilty, noe of guile, however, but of Iv. For ith mere life the rue of law over the living cease Mythical violence is blody power over mere life for ite own stke, divine violence pure power over allie for the ske of the living. The fest demas sacri, the second accep it “This divine power is tested not only by eligi tradition but is io found in prevent life fn at lett ene sncioned manifesation. The eductve power, which in its perfected form stands ouside the law, i one of i manifeations These fare defined, therefore, not by miracles divecly performed ‘by God, but by the expiating moment in dean that strikes without bloodshed and, finaly, bythe absence of all Iw ‘making. To this extent i junlfable to allthis wolene, too, anailaing: but it fo only elie, with negod tom5 a8 Reflections goods ght le, and suhle, never absoluey, with sega fo the soul of the living. The premise of such an extension of pure or divine power is sure to provoke, particularly toy, ‘he most violent reactions, and to be countered by the age rent tat taken to ts logis! concisow it confers on men ‘ven lea pover agnnet one another, This, however, aot ‘be conceded. Hor the queton "May I Kil?” meets itive le answer in the commandment “Thou shalt not il: ‘This commandment precedes the deed, jo at God wa preventing” the deed. But just at it may not be fear of Punishment that enfores obediene, the injunction becomes {inapplicable incommensurabl once the deed ie accomplished, No judgment of the deed can be derived from the command: rent. And io nether the divine judgment, nor the grounds for this judgment, can be known in advance. Thaw who base a condemnation of all violent kiling of one penon by amother on the commandment are therefore misahen. Tt exis not a a erteron of judgment, but as» guideline for the actions of penont or communis who have to wrestle vith ie fa satade and, in eacetional exes, to take on emelves the responsibility of ignoring ie Thue it wes understood by Judaism, which expresly rejected the conden ‘ation of klig in selédefense. But thore thinkers who the the opposed view rler to amore ditant theorem, on which they possibly propose to base even the commandant ive. ‘This isthe doze ofthe sanctity of life, which they either apply to al animal or even vegetable life or limi 0 human Iie. Their argumentation, exemplifed in an exteme cae by de evoludanary killing of the oppresiog runs as follows TET do not kl shall never extblith the world dominion of justice... that isthe argument of the intlligeat tron ‘We, however, profes that higher even than the happiness tnd jusie of exence sands existence iuell"™ As erainy 2 ts lst proposition ie fl indeed ignoble it shows the _ecessy of weking the reason forthe cotandment no Tonget Critique of Violence fn what the deed does to the victim, but in what it doe to God and the doer. ‘The proposition that extence stands higher than a just exaence is false and ignominious, if existence ito mean noting oder than mere lfe—and it has ‘his meaning in the argument referred oe contane a mighty twuth, however, if existence, or, beter, lle (words who ambiguty is readily dispelled, analogouly to that of feed, ‘when they are refered to two distinct spheres) means the fnreducble, total condvon that is “man”; if the proposition ‘sintended to mean thatthe nonexistence of man i womething more terrible han the (admitely wbordnate)-notyet autained condition of the just man, To this ambiguity the proposition quoted above owes its plausibility. Man cannot, At any price, be sad to coincide with the mere lle in him, ‘0 more than with any other of his conditions and qualities not even with the uniquenes of his bodily person. However sacred man is (or tat life nim that is Hentcally present in earthly Ife, death, and afterlife), there is no serene in his condition, in his bedily life vulnerable to injury by his flow men, What, then, distinguishes exenialy from the life of animats and plans? And even If thee were seed they could not be so by virwe only of being alive, of being in Iie. Te might be well worth while ro tack down the origin ofthe dogma of de sacredner of life, Perhaps indeed prob ably, i is rlaively recent, the last mistaken tiempe of the weakened Western tradition {0 sek the sit it ha lst ia ormolopcalimpenerabiliy. (The antiquity ofall ttgius commandments gaint murder is no countereigunene be ‘ase these are based on othe det than the modern theorem) Finally this idea of man's sacredness gives grounds for re ection that what is here pronounced sised yas according to ancient mythical thought the masked bearer of guilt: fife Felt ‘The critique of vielence isthe philosophy of is hitory— the “philosophy” of eis history, because only the Hea of fit development mates pouible # etal, dsctiminating, andReftections decve appre tiempo di. A pe dee only A wht i dove st hand inst move pee 4 dialect ‘sng an ling nthe lava Iw prseving fra Son of viene ‘The law geting their lao re nthe cewmsance that ail I proevng vies Ta Station edey wees the making vec repre tied by i through the ppeion a one couse Violence. Vatioas npn of tis fave een rere ti $i couse ofthis sty) Thi at ul eer ew eto tho er wpprened tumph verte hte ahi violence and thts nw deine in itm oder. (nthe beating af hie ini by myc free flaw on the meson aw thal the lve on ch 3 pens hy pe ony aly Denon the abolition afte power, te Hsia ep rounded. Tether of my i olen econ ithe pret 2g the caning ae nots ape senor that a eek on lw i ntgster eet ie cence af lence tui the ew st pre meine lee owed Tumis the prot at seen) lene he igeat sanfin of uralloyed viokne by anh pone te ty what means Lem pou sds Ya gent fo oma nd however, decide when uae ence as been relied in poco een For only mia vient not Sisng we cogil as ch wh corn les be in inemparble ets bese the exptery poet ove Ice isnot vise men. Once gen al he cera fers sre open to pure dvn viens witch myth bared with inw t may mnie Ill i + oe war excl a Inthe divine judgoent ofthe msltede on cna But ll ‘mya lwmaing lene lh we ma el nce eric Fei tte nprenrng ansia {se violence that eres Dine vn whieh the sgn fn seal bot never the stn of aed aeuton, may Be Sled vera viene. The Destructive Character 1k could happen to someone looking back over his life dat Ihe reared at almost all the deeper obignons be had ‘ivdred in courte originated in people on whose “destruc the characier” everyone wat agieed. He would stumble fon tis fact one day, pechape by chance, and the Beavir the ‘low it deals im, dhe better are his chances of ptoring the dexructive character “The detuctive character knows only one watchword: make oom: onty one activity: clearing away. Hi ned for fresh air tnd open space is stronger than any bated "The detucive daracter ie young and cheerful. For dee teoying rejuvenates in eating sway the traces of our Ov tiger it cheers because everything cleared away means tothe esroyer a complete rection, indeed eradication, of it ‘own condition. But what contributes most of ll to this ‘Apellnianinmage ofthe deroyer is the reaiation of how Inmmensely the worlds sinplied when ested fo is worthines of destruction, Theis the great bond embracing and unifying A that exits Ie in a ight that afrds the dexsuctive Characters spectacle of deepest harmony. "The destructive characteris always blchely at work. Iti ature tha dictates hi temp indirectly at Teast, for be tn forall her. Oherwite se will ake over the destruction benele No whee fonts te deerace ace: He fet Sow