“Tranelared by Daniel Heller Roazen. Svoxfrd Universi Scand California HOMO SACER Sovereign Power and Bare Life Giorgio Agambenow Sr Senge Poveda fe xs gin pblat Hm pt one "dst © 995 Guo Hsu eae pa Sno! Uninet Pres Ses, Calle © 90 the Boon Tc of Tel Snfn Jno Uniesy ‘ind in he Unie Sie of Aen er depp athe ead fhe ook se 62 Ss 54 st 82 83 54 Ss 86 Contents Insroducton "The Paradox of Sovergnsy "Nomor Basu Potent and Law Form of Lae “Thoshold Homo Sacer “The Ambivalence ofthe Sacred Sacred Life Vitae Necingue Pore! Sovereign Boy and Sscred Body ‘The Ban and she Wolf “Theeshold » ” 6 ” * & o rasr 8 5s Sa Ss 56 Sr Contents “The Politiczation of Lie iopottics and the Righs of Mas Lif That Does Not Deserve to Live "Poli, of Giving Frm to the Lif of People ve Policing Death ‘The Camp a the ‘Nome of the Modern Threshold iggy Jrdesof Names 26 86 16 a By 7 iach at ea Dan sch in We vlc dt [eet Mente ti wa er Sete ngs ~Swignt Laas ae foie trite i =n pops nee ry eal wen eine cia at ol veg op 00 {idem weds ined amen etn lt Comidcet et utils tr magus ee ad ‘ne cpanel ued one intersect bee a coke an, oe oie ks “Teale x moe cou tach nt he igh Se nd te Sbjct nea ant ke nde bate ‘he eee conde thy wee dae) a we ‘hy undrand wha he ale manera whe ‘tenon itis wha Sec up presen a men mb peed ann chsh, dain 0 ap ‘oswe-goande Sexe Sin Pa ‘And commande wich wa oie iy an be om dehIntroduction ‘The Grecks had no single erm to express what we en by dhe Word "le" They used wo terms that although aceable 0 2 ‘common etymologies oot are semantically and morphologically ‘lnc: sot, which exprened the simple fact of ving common «0 all iving beings (animals, men, argo) and bi which indicted the em or way oflving proper tan individual ora group, When Plato mentions three kinds of life in the Phileéns, and when [Arisodle dings the conemplase life of the philasope (biases) fom ee feof pleasure (bor apoleuats) and se political fe (or plitn) inthe ichomachean Ei, nether plosopher would ever have used the rem 28 (which in Greek, ‘Sgnificasly enough, lack «para. Thi follows fom the imple fe that whit was at ue fr bth diners war aoc a all simple acura lie but rather a quid lie, a particular way of i ‘Concerning God, Avail ca crsainly spl ofa 2 aris? hat iis 2 mare noble and ermal life (Metsposc, 1072, 29), but ‘onlyinsofieashemeans to urderine the sigan erat even God isa living being (mia, Aro uses the term soi the same contest—and na way that i just as meaningl—to define the act of hnking). Buco speak of 20 pli dhe chine of Athens would have made nosnse, Not hat he casa wood had ‘ne Familiy with the iden that nacural Hs, imple 2 atch,2 Inraducton could be a good in itl In a pasage of he Pots alee noxing that the end of che city sie according to che good, Arse ‘expresses his aarenes of that ide with the most psf acy “This if acconing to dhe god isthe pets cad bah in commen forall men and for each man separate). But men al come ogee ad ints the plc coma in view of simple ving, be- ‘use thee probably some Kind of god i the mere ie of iving foe ast 2 eo monn) I there pest cl 2 the vay of lie (dee tom inl cely mest men wl lerate toch {llg and held toi lan) ae were» Kid of sereny cuter easily) and x ntl svete (278, 35-3) In the asia word, however, simple natural life is exuded fiom te porn the ie snes, and remsineconfined-—at ery reproductive life the sphere of the os, "home™ (Poi, 1ayza, 26-33). Ar the beginning of de Piss, Arsol ake the greatest care to lstngush the oomemas (the heal of a estate) and the despus (the head of the fami), both of whom are ‘concerned withthe reproduction andthe subsistence of if, from the poclan, and he saeas those who thiak de difference be- ‘eon the two ir one of quantiy and aor of kind. And when ‘Alwotle defined the end ofthe pefect commuting i 4 pstage ‘ha ws to hosome canonical forthe pial raion of the West (casa, 30), be dds precy by opposing ee imple ico ing (to 2x) wo politically quale life (i 2: gnomené men ow ‘ou zen fener. oma de tone 2k, “bon with ead oie, bat casing esentially wich regard co che good lie” (inthe Latin trarsaion of Willam of Moecbeke, which both Aquinas and ‘Marslus of Padua had before chm: face quidem igur vivend! rt existent eer gra bene vive). Tes tra dat in famous passage of the ste work, Arist defines man asa polit aon Paes, 153, 4). But ere (side fiom the fc chain Ai Grek the verb bionais practically never used in the present tense) “politi” is nor an acute of the livingbeingas such, but eather specie ference tha determines the genus ium. (Only a lie late, afier all, human polis is Iarnduction , lscinguished from thc of che living beings in satis Founded through a supplement of ply [pol] ved 0 language, on ‘community 0¢ simply ofthe pleasne and she pain but ofthe (good and the evi and of the just andthe unjust) ‘Michel Foucault refers to this ery definition when, atthe end of the fis volume of The Hitory af Sexual. he summaries the proces by which, a¢ the theshold of the modern era, raul lite begins tobe incl inthe mechaisms and calculations of Sate poet ad pics urs neo bipoic, “Foe mile.” he ‘wes, “nun rained what he was for Aro: Living animal ‘with the addtional apace for poliscal existence; modern man is tm animal whose poitcs call ie exitence as ving Being into ‘qussion” (Le slop 8). “According Foucslt, a sacenys “threhold of biological mo- eri” i sisated at she point ac which the species and the Individual 25a simple living body become what isa stake ina soviet’ political rteies. After 1977, che courses athe Colbge Adetrance sto focuson the passage om the "terior State 10 the "Seat of population” and on the resin increase in impor tance of the nation’s heal and biological Iie as «problem of Sovercign power which shen gradually transformed into a "go: zament of men” (Dit tri 3:19). "Wha follows is kind of bestnlzation of man achieved throggh the mose sophisticated pull techniques. For che is ime i history the posible of the social eencesare made known, and at nce become posse tht protect if ano auchorie a holeaus.” In panicuag the development and timp of capitalism would nor have been posible, fiom this perspective, without the disciplinary contro {chien bythe new bio-powes, which, through a series of appro priate technologies, sot speak ected the “dock Doi” hat ie ceded "Almast sweaty yeas before The History of Seuiy, Hannah Arendal analyzed she proces that ring hme labora ‘anc wit it biological ie a such-—graclly 0 oocupy the very enter athe pola sene of moderaiy In The Haman Condition, ‘Arend abe he transformation and decadence ofthe pall4 Irtraaeton ‘eal in modern societies to this very primacy of natura fe ver political action. That Foucaule was able 10 begin hit study of biopic with no reference to Arent work hich remains, ee today, pracially without continuation) beats wines to che di calles and restances cha ehinking had ro encounter inthis area ‘And ic is mont Ukly these very difclie chat account forthe ‘utoas fact chat Arend establishes no connection Beewsen het esearch in The Human Condon the penetrating analyses she had previously devoted ro totalitarian power (in which a bioplit- cal perspective i altogether lacking), and that Pouca in as 36 “iking a fhion, neer dec onthe exemplary places of modern biopoies: the concentration camp andthe structure ofthe grea toutaran eae of the vente century. Foueauls death kepe him from showing how he would have Aderelopod the concept and study of bigpoltin ln any erse bow ‘te the entry of sino the sphere ofthe polite plication ofbareliteasuch-contete the decisive event of modernity and Signal a ada transformation ofthe plies philosophic cae- tgtes af clase thought. 1 i even likely that if plies day Seems be passing tvough alsin elie, this is hecase pies has filed ro reckon with his foundational eve of modernity. The “esiginas” (Puret, LAllonague nap. 7) that our century Bas proposed to historia reson and that remain sits ur (Nazim is nly the moet diaguiting aang then) wil be solved aly ox the ‘erin biopoitics—on which they were formed. Only within 2 biopaical horizon willbe posible eo decide whether the cst goes whose opposition founded modern politi (ight, pri ‘ate/public,abolucsm/democray ec.) and which have ben steal dissolving co the point of entering today inc veal one of indininetion—wil have t be abandoned or wil, stead, even ‘ally regain he meaning they losin that vey horiaon. And only 2 reflection cha, aking up Feucaults and Benjamins suggestion, ‘hematially iatrogates the ink between baz ile and pols, = link hat secretly governs che modern ideologies seemingly most stant From one another, wil be able wo bing the pelical out of rareduton 5 fas concealment and, at the same time, eeten thought co its practical eling (One of the most pesene features of Foucauls wor eis Aessve abandonment ofthe eaiional appreac coche problem ‘of power which is bated on juridio-insiuconal models (ihe {ation of svcrigny he theory ofthe Site, in Bvor oF an ‘unprjadiced analyse of de conerete ways in which power pene- trates subjects very boise and forms Flite. Ax shown by a seminar hd in 2982 at the Univesity of Vermont, in his final yess Foucault seme! oie this analyse according to two diner dletves for rescarch: on the one hand, che rudy ofthe paid ‘techies (wach as the scence ofthe police) with which the State sues and lazgrates che cate ofthe narra feo individuals inco ie very center, on the other hand, che examination of the lichnologe of the sf by which process of subjectivaaion bring ‘he individual to bind himself ro his own identi and conscious ‘es and, ache sme time, co an external power, Clearly dese ew Tine (which cary om two cendeneies present ia Foucault work fiom the very betting) incersccrin many points and referbackeo ‘Lcoamon cen. In one of hie last writings, Foucault argues that the modern Western ate has integrated techniques of subjective Indviduallaation with procedures of objective eotlzation vo an lunpreodented dere, and he speaks ofa seal “pol ‘double bin constituted by individualvaron and the simuleaneous tol ination of erates of modern power” (Dit er deri, 4: 229-2), "Yr the poineat which thse ono fces of power converge remains serangel icles in Fouexul’s work 0 much so chat i as ven bcm chimed that Foacaule would have consistent refed «0 abocate unitary theory of power. Foucauk contests the eadi- tional approach othe problem of power, which sexcusvely based ‘on jutidial models (What Iegitimater power") o¢ on ist ‘onal models “Whar ithe State"},and fhe cl for 2 liberation from the eheorticalpilege of sovereignty” in onde o construct amanalytic of power that would not take law ast model and code, | |‘ Intraducton then wherein thebodyf pone the sone nnn (a Ie ch pn oferta which echoes of nda ‘ona ig reds corp! Ad ope theres kay cnn wich pls dob ba finds i ‘on Le! Tat ree bjeve spe the gn of fovea aed pin he coe of std rte Een de a Hote twat sth pin hich he ony sev find comes ne cna bee power Gan ne becomes, nach delete at, vith pcg Sins sn hse nu fron een ‘Steal inral nurs? Cofonel with pores such Sr the pow of he vaca of he spc dar eeyher Canrmig he plea em nd kao een posse to ld serve fchnlogis ad pole echigues tae Although the exec of sch in of hiking cm 0 be login onc wot iene abd go the (9 ofthe reer o her somhing Hee ening pol ‘facthdiften pep rc For iniy Gore tency of the ene sc ection on powe) toward without aching, means "The pc Sons pct len pole of intention ewes eric snl bd hela todas af poe What wt ark ceed asng ely Condon precy thatthe naar cans be prt, Sd ha non of bari n te pltl econte the nial if concedes feel powe cn dea hatte pratacon fe bop ay thea iy ‘fone por In hse, lpi Ha a sh Soren compo ling Hilo at the cee of i ‘Stony che modem Sate hive das nating be han being igh th ster dunking power and, reliming th ord ded forms emu oreo Seren dhe mer and he cha wich one ennui dhe ‘ent depraved in tov fh rca nor Irodction 7 feiss re, willbe necessary to reconsider de sense ofthe Aristotelian definition of the polir asthe eppesition bern hie (ain) and good life ew zen), The opposition, at, ache sme time an implication of the Bist inthe second, of bare file in polly qualified lie, Wha rains co be interogate in the Tistrellan definition isnot merely—as has been assumed uot row-the sense the modes, andthe posible articulations of the god le” asthe tel ofthe poll. We must instead ask why Westen polis ise constiates sel though an exclusion (whic is simultaneousy 49 incision) of bare life, What is che ration between polis adie, ie presents selfs what since by means ofan excuson? “The neucute ofthe expan delineated inthe ist pare ofthis ‘book appeats fom this pepectiveo be eonsubstantal with West ci polit. In Foust statement according o which man was, or Aste, a “living animal wth the additonal capacity for poliel exitnoe.” tie therefve precisely the meaning of ci, "yddtonal capaci” chat must be undestod as problema, The peel phrase "born with regard life, but exiting eerily tvth regard othe god Tie canbe red no only a an implication ‘of being born (ginomen2) in being (ow). ur also ay an inclusive ‘exclusion fan exp) of axe te polis mss a if polis wee the place in wih if ad o transfor ts ico goo life and in tai wha had co be poli were alas already bare fie, ‘Wrenn politics, bare life ae the pecuie priege of being that ‘whose exlasion founds the city of men. Teisnochy chance, then, that a passage ofthe Polistes the proper place ofthe plinth easton fom voice co language: ‘Th link beonece bare Hie al polis is the same fink tat the ‘etapa! definition of man a "the living Beng who has lane sage” secks in dhe lation between pon? and lee: Amon ving beings. ony an has nue. The wie the sgn of puta plemre andi why i long eo other ring Bins Finches matte be dovloped the poi avng he sensations pin and pea al of ging he wo). Bu ngunge i fo4 Inarodntion -manfecing he fvingand she unfiing andthe andehe je To fhe the scion of the good andthe bad and ofthe stand vu juss what properto men opposed other living beings nd the nmuniy of cee ings al dwelling ad he hy (2310-8) ‘The question "Ia what way does the living being have lan- guage?” catresponds exactly ro the question "In what way docs are Tite dell inthe pol?" The ving bing has grb taking ay and conserving ite awn voice in even a it dwell in the aly Teng ite own bare life be excluded, at an exception, within i Polis therefore appears as che uly Rendamental stuccue of ‘este metaphysics insofar asic occupies the threshold on which the relation beeween shefiving beingand the fpsiselize, Inthe "polkcizaton™ of bare lfe—the mcaphysicl task pr xen the humaniey of ving man i decided. In aiming this tk, ‘modernity dacs nothing other than delve own aul the esental sacar ofthe menphyial tadivon. The fund mental etegeial pa of Western polides i aot chat offend? ‘enemy but that of bur lie political existence, 2 bias, exc slon/incason, There is polities bocase man i the fving being ‘who, in Language. separates and opposes hima co his own bate lifeand, athe name ime, snes hil relation to that bare Iie in a inclusive exchson ‘The ptagnia of thi books belie, chat i, che lie of bom sace aces maa), who may be illed and yet mat acrifedy and ‘whose esata function in modern polite we intend to acertAn obscure figure of archaic Roman lav in which human life is includ in the juridical oer [ndinament) solely in the form of is exclusion (thar is, ofits capacity o be kill), has thus ofered the key by which nor only the sacral texts of vverigny but also the vty codes of poli power wll unveil cei mysteries. At the "Ore Iii ninomer ich tte me at ony of de ut of poss so juin el an yen The mod ‘raceme do ian canon of Cod Sanit Ong, Whee oe ‘tborrcea adnan On he ght wn aero heh tp Shit mr orden” tas, Introduction ° seme ne, howeve his ancient mesningof he erm ster pret ith th cipne ef gre of th sare eh, lore bond theveligis entre che fn pang ofthe ola ream of the Wete Ti Foun ss wl den hve obese trea comple in these hat wha hastens mode poles nto ch heiocion of zi th panic in {elf belly ncent™noe ipl the fe that fe as sch be Comes pring ejecta th profsons and eaculatosof Sate er stead the ec f hageter wih prey Thich the exception everywhere becomes the vue the alm of bari sonia sited athe aginst poi tnler—graualy begins 0 clade with de pirat, and rls al incon, oui sb eight fly enter ino sone of ered ndincton.Aronee exclude ine fom and epting hin he pole oe che fc often cual comsael in tvey separateness te In foundation om which the ene pola sytem reed ‘When i ordi oe Hed, he ee hat dee these frst in the ty and become both bjt and objet ofthe confics ofthe pli ofr he oe place Fr both the oganine timo Sate omer andes om i Brechin happens SS along withthe dipiny prowos by which Ste power tmakes mat a ving being int is wn apc ajc, athe focus ist ia acon dat in age meas coresponds the Fert democy i wich man ving being re fs hil mo lnger a abn Bt the ube of poll power Thee pocesr-hich i many ways oppose and test Ippareth) bee conficc with cach odeDoretle con ‘ete stir 2 oth concer he Dare i fhe cz the new ‘opal body of uma “Fanthing ances modern decay oped cs sil democracy he, tae modern democracy prose fem the begining a vind an heron fea that ‘Nncontanieryingtotanaoem vn bre ila fife fd to find oo peak the bir of sat Heer, too, modem demecrays speci apo: ewan to put the feo an hap© uration ‘es of men ino play in she very place—"bare lieth market ‘hic subjection. Behind the long stritesiden proces that els ‘the ecogaition of right and formal liberis srs once again the body of the sacred man with his double sovergn his ie that cannot be sarifed yet may, neertheles, be klled, To become ‘conscious of his apoia is not t bile che congue and aeom- plshment of democracy It iy rather, eo uy to understand once and forall why democracy. 2 de very moment in which semed to have finaly evap over its adveraiee and reached ts retest height, proved ssl incapable of sving eo, to whose Fappinesit had dediaed all is effort, rom unprecedented rin, Modeen democeeys decadence and gradi convergence wih toataran stats in post democratic spectacle societies (which begins to become evident with Aleis de Tocqueville and finds ts final sanction in the analyse of Guy Debord) may well voted in ‘his aporia, which mark the beginning of mer democracy aa forces ic ato complicity with ee moe implacable enemy. Today politic: knows no value (and, consequently no nonvae) other than lie, and uni che cnteaicsions tht thi fic implies ae Aisoled, Nazism and fiscism—which transformed the decision ‘on belie inc the supreme pol princple—wil emi stub bornly wich us. Acoaing wo the esdmnonyof Robert Antel, in feu whatthe amps taught those who lived there was precy hit “ealing into quesdon the quality of man provolas an almost Uilogial ascertion of belonging tothe human race” (pb bu main. ‘Theidex ofan inner solidarity esween democracy and ral Janis (which here we mus, with every cation, advance) is ‘obviously nor (ike Leo Stauss thesis onceming che ete con ‘ergence ofthe inal gal of liberalism and comununism) a histo- riogrphical dim, which would authorize the liquidation and leveling of che enormous dierences hac chatictetize tel history and thee ale. Ye this idea mase nevertheless be strongly rai tained on historco philosophical eve snc alone wallow st to orient oureesin relation to che new reais and unfree convergeaces ofthe end ofthe millennium, Thi iden alone wil Innoducton ” rake ic possible to clear the way for the new palit, which remains agey to be invented Ie contasing the "beaut day” eveneria) of imple life with the “gen diffe” of poll bir in the pasage cued above, Avisodle may well have gives the most beau formulation ro the porn dat fee atthe foundation of Westen polis. The 24 ‘Eotaie that have since gone by have brought only provisional ‘nd inective sltions. In cayng out he metaphyseal ask thar fat led ie move and more wo assume the form ofa biopolits, Westen police bas noe succeded in contacting the Fink be: togen za2and bin, berween woe and language, shar would bave hele the feacrure. Bare life remains included in polis in the form of the excepon, that isa someting tha is included soley ‘through an exclusion, How isi posible o "plicit "natural sweetness” of 20@! And fine of al, does 20 rly need 1 be polsized, ox pois nou sled contsned in co its most prscious center? The hipaltcs of both modem eraitaranins nd the society of mass hedonism and consumerism certainly ‘onsite answers 0 these questions: Nevertheless, nil cote plevely new polics-chae i plies no longer founded on che ‘poo of bare lie—isa hand, every theory and evry prais wll, emain imprisoned and imobile, andthe “beaut day” of ile ‘wll b given cczenhip only ctr chough Blood and death arin the perce senslesnss co which che society of the spectacie onder it Cad Schum: defisiion of soversgnty('Sovecgn is he who decides the sae of exxption”) became a commonplace even Tere here wav any understanding that what was at ise in it was roth les daa te limi concept ofthe datrne of law and che Stat, in which sovercgnty boner since every lie concept is aways che imi been two concepts) on the sphere of life and becomes ndssngushabe from it, Alongs the form ofthe Sete ‘constitd the fundamextal horizon of ll communal ie andthe political religous, jaridicsl, and economic doctrines hat sustained ‘his form were al ston, ths “mot exteme sphere” could nota Introduction tu come to light. The problem of oesegnty war eae to the ‘question of whe within the poli onde was invested with cern powers, and the very threshold ofthe politcal ore ise was never tale into question. Today now that dhe guar State structures have entered inco a process of dislution andthe emergency has, as ‘Walter Berjami free, become he rule the ime s peo place the problem ofthe origina srucrue and limits of the form ofthe Sate ina new perspective. The weaknes af anarchist and Marian ‘tig of che State ws pei eo have nor caught ight ofthis ftrctare and custo have quick the arsaane pers ax iit had ao substance outside ofthe simslacr and the ideologies invoked to justi it. But one ends up identifying with an enemy vahose sauce one docs not understand, and the theory of the Shae nd in particule ofthe ete of exception, which 03, oF the dictatorship ofthe proleusiat athe wassitional phase lean to the ates society) isthe ree on which the revolutions of out nary have been shipwrecked ‘This book, which was orginally conceived as 2 response co the bloody mystcaton of anew planeray onder, therfore had 19 reckon with probleme—fne of al chr of the sacrednes of lie ‘which che author had not, inthe beginning, foreseen Inthe course ofthe undertaking, howeves, ic became clear thar one canner, such an area accep asa guarantee any ofthe notions thatthe social seiences (from jusaprudence eo andbopology) thought they bad Aefnedo¢presippoed as evden, and that many a hex tions ‘demanded™in the urgeny of etatophe—to be reve withost PART ONE The Logic of Sovereignty§1 The Paradox of Sovereignty 1. The paradox of sovereign consis in the Face she sovereign is at the sme time, outside and inside the jriical oer, If he sovereign is uly the one eo whom che juridical onder grants the power of proclaiming a sate of exception and, therefore, of ss- dng order’ own validity, then “ihesoverign sands ouside "he juridical order and, nevertheless, belongs ti sine is upto him co decide if the consitation isto be suspended in ot” (Gebui, Polinsche Tole, p. 9) The specication tha the sovereign isa he same te outside and ine the juridical order” (emplasis added) is wor insignificant the sovereign, having che Teg powerto suspend thevaliiy of he at ely places his? tuts the li. The means chat che pad ean ako be form laced this way the law is ouside tse," or “Ice sovereign, who am onside che law, declare tha theres nothing outside thew che non en fr legge” ‘The eopology impli inthe para i worth rein upon, Since the dgie 10 which sovereigny marks te lime (in the dou ble sense of end and principle) ofthe juridical order wil eeome dear only once dhe sructure of the paradox grasped Schanit pe ‘crs thir sructare a the sructre ofthe exception (dumabme) “The exception ie uhat which cian be subsumed ic fies general codiicacon, bur i smalzneouy reves a pei jr fo 516 The Logic of Sovereignty alee the denn in abe pi. The ccpion appear ia ‘oleae when tia guestion of ecanga situation i which [urd res can be valid. Every general ne demands repr, ‘rey ame of ie which ica be ually ppd and which it Submited ots eglcons, The ale requis» bomogeneos me ‘a, This wal eli i age ey an “exer prespos Yi” chat he aris can grec elong tet. ache le ise ne diy Tore na rl cat splat chan. Order mas be ead for arid nde wo make sense A regular station sus be cet, and sovereign she who definitely aides i his ‘Son ial ct Alliston oe” The over {rats ad guaranes hesitation a whole it ality. He hs ‘he manoply over the Sal deiion. Tria cost the esac af ‘Ste werelgty wich aut helo be propery judy ened ‘ot athe monopoly 0 sncion oo ele bu the mosoply 40 Aside, whe the word "monopoly sus in 2 gona sense ht Sel we developed. The decison eves the esenc of Sa auchor- ‘iy most cer, Here the dciion must be dangled ron ehe juridical ropa, nd (eo foe ie paraoncal) authority roves inl nor once at reste The exeptin oct {Sverige rel cs The ater pes nh the exe ‘on pons eveything, The exception does ot only eon the ‘hele sch Ines ff the excpion alone A roan heli ‘who demonstrat the vial intsy of which thelgiarefeton tes sil eapule i he nineremth cemary sie "The caption ‘plas dhe genera ice And when on ly wants oy the feel oe ne ony look aro for + ral asp. I binge ‘Sreything igh more aly shan che neil. Ae a whe, fone becomes dguse withthe enls wk abou the enetal—thee 1s cxepcoas I hey cannot be explained then neter can the {roel be enplined. Unlly she ify nox nice, sine the {eer is thor about ne with passion but ony wi eononae ‘Sper: The ection, the thr hand, thinks the gene ‘ith incase pasion." (Ouitike Tee 9-22) Tris noc by chance that in defining the exeption Sehite efers ‘0 the work ofa thenogian (who is none othe than Soren Kierke~ ‘gear. iambatista Vio had, co be sure, affizmed the supeioiy The Laie of Soserigy ” ofthe exception, which heeled “the ultimate configuration of, cs” oretpouive law ina way which was not x0 dinar: “Ax steed jute i therefore, noe someone who, with the help ofa good memory, masters postive hw [or the general complex of Tiel bur ther someone who, with sharp judgment, knows how to lok into cass and sce dhe ultimate circumstances of its hat ‘merc equitsle consideration and exceptions from gene us” (Deantiguinima,chap.2). Yecnowbece inthe elm ofthe judi sciences can ne find theory that gras sch a high posiion vo the exception, For what isa isu ia the sovereign exception is, according to Schmiey, the very coniton of posbiliy of ji ‘al rule and, alongwith the very meaning of Stace authori. “Through the wat of exception, che sovereign crests and guaras- rest the stuntion” eae the lw nods forts own vai: But what this “Suaton,*whar i is stuctare, suc that i consis in oth oer than the suspension ofthe ale? The Vichien opposition heen postive lw (i ssc) and ceacepion wel express te pacar satus oF te cexpion. The ‘epi bam clement in ew tat wanscends psi lin the form of Ftstpension. Th exception opie lw wba gt thesogy ix to pose theology, Whe seater ar an rie deteiate qlee of God, nv Cr myst) these, wit sks ot” negates aspen che bain God ofan predcte Ithasocrer, Yr neaie theology acute elope and can at tly be shown a fnevon a the pipe grounding the poss eer of anything ike» velo Oaly base chs been nega fesuppsod wha ube out any pombe priate an dvinty rcome th bjt fa preiation, Analogy oly beaver ali iy is upended in the sate af ececon can psive lew define she ral ie athe rs of on ai 12, The exception is akind ofexhion. What is excluded from the general rule ie a inva ease Bu the most prope charac tere ofthe exception is chat what i excuded ini snot 08 sccount of being eshadd,abolatly withour lation the rule. ‘On the contcay, what excluded inthe ecepon maintain it8 The Logic of Sorigny in relation co the ele in the form ofthe ul’ suspension. Te ue applies a he exepion in lng applying, in withing fom it “The sat of exxpionischus not the chaos tha prccedes onder bat rather dhe station chat rests from ite surpension. In thi seme the exception is tly, according to is eeymological root, rake ‘use (eveapere), ad nor simply exuded. Tcharofien been observed tha the juidico-pbical nderkasthe stractute ofan inclusion of what x simultaneously pasted outside, Gilles Delee and Félix Guster were dus able 0 wie, “Sover- cdgnty only rules over what iis capable of inceroiing” Delewe and Goarari Mile plows p. 443); andy concerning the "great confinement” descebed by Foucault in his Made and Cis tion, Mausice Blanchot spoke of soe aterm 0 "onfie the side” (ofr eden), ha i,t consiae ic in an “ine tloty of expectation or of exception” Confonted with an exces, ‘he sytem inerirines what exer i chrough an interdiction and fn this way “dsigates isl as exerior rie” (Leen infin 292). The exception tat defines the sete of sovereignty is however, even mare comples. Here what is ouside i included not simply by means of intercon or an nterament, but rate by means ofthe saspension of thejuvdia oder’ validiey—by len ‘he juiicalordet, that, withdraw Fm the exception and aban om it, The exception docr noe subtac ive rom ee ral: thet thesale, suspending sell gvesriseto the exception and, mainain- ing itn ration vo the exception, fs constinues ites acl "The particular “foce” of law consists inthis capacity of law co ‘rain el in raion roan exterioity. We shal give the name reliton of epson co the exteeme fom of relation by which something included sll through ts xcuon, “The stucon create inthe exception asthe peculiar charac ‘eric dat ic connor be dened either sa station offic oF a8 Sinustion of righ, bat instead innittes a paradoxical thesbold oF indininction beeween the twa. Its nota fie, since its only ‘eat through the supenson ofthe ele. Bu forthe same reson, itismor even a js asein pint even it opensthepssbily The Logic of Soercigny 19 “ofthe force of aw. This the wtimate meaning ofthe paradox that Schmice formulates when he write thar the sovereign decison prose not ose Law eo cen law.” What isa iste inthe sovereign exception is na eo much the control or netelzaton of san exes a the cretion and defiition ofthe ery space in whic the juridice-plitial oder can hae alii In this ene the rv. ersgn exception the Rindamentlesizaion (Orn) which doesnot Line self wo distinguishing what is insie fom what is tutsde but instead races a threshold (he sate of exception) bheween thet, on the basis of which outside and inside, the nena situation and chuos, enter ito those complex topological ‘easions that make the vali ofthe urd oder posible ‘Te “ondeing of space” chats, according to Schmit, consti tive ofthe soversign amor therefore not only “taking and” (Cinndaniahe)~the detriation of jrdial anda tersrial ondring( Ondnung and an Orne) but above alla "aking fof dhe ouside" an exepion (uate) Since “thes no rule ha is applicable to chan” hun ms Ft beincula i the jar onder trough the eon ofa none oie ‘inton beeen ote and ise, hs and the nasal station thesute of ception, To ae eo something 2 eae bot prep po a yet sil exablih elation with wha is ouside eaton the ‘onrelsonaD. The retain of excepion thu ply expen the cg Ina Sal ctr ofthe ure radon In sense soe Acton on the econ he rigid palise sacar on ‘he base of which wh ir inked in he aril ondr ae hate ‘ded cn ie ace her meaning In ie archery for, he wate ‘lexan hrf th pil ery jr clan since tly te mato ecepton apene the space rich che determination of ‘cra jailer and’ pura ein ist becomes posible Asch thesareof exception fli thun enemy alc eve {Fea spatoenpord nts can be asin ot fom ne tine ‘Thelin betwen loclaion (Orung) an nrg (Ord) con suv of he me of the eth (Sci, De Mam, pe 8 ‘herefore ven mee canoe chan Schnader enter ‘tana fundamen ebiguy, an nlc ooe of ndinon20 The Logi af Seeeinty ‘or excgpion tha in the lat anabis, accel a again i asa principle of ts ifnie dsocston, One ofthe theses athe pent ngs that noua the ate of xepion ones te and move ‘he fneground asthe fondaneaal pola stracture ahd mately [gins to beome there When our age td en gra the ulociable 4 permanent and visible localatian the rel ma the concentration ‘amp. The emp ao the pion ithe space ha coreponds ‘hierar suctre ofthe nomex This show among othe hin. bythe fc thar while prison la ony conse ptr spe oF eral lw and snot ouuie the nnal det, te uel contain tha guide the camp as we sal) atl ad dhe ate of ee “This why eis not posible co insite nays ofthe can the «nl opened bythe wees of Fuca ftom Mad and Clton wo Dinipline and Push As the aslte space of exci, the a ‘topological difeen om simple pc of continent And this ‘queef exception in which the ink bree ciation sea oneng five role, that harden she rs of th old "names of theca.” 15. The validity of a judi! rule does not coincide with is application wo che individual ese in, for example, a trl or an ‘executive act. On the contrary the uke mast, preisly insist is general, be valid independent of the individual ease, Hee the sphere of aw shows ies sential proximity to that of language. Just as inan occurrence of actual speech, « word acquis i ably co dene a segment of elt oly insofar a ie rao meaning in ins own nordenoting thai, a gu ax opposed to purl a5 ‘erm in its mee lexical consistency. independent of kx concrete use in dscoure), so the eu ean refer to the individual case only be= ‘ase iit in ex inthe sovereign exception, a pure potenialty in the suspension of every atl reference. And just a language presupposs the nonlinguisi as dae with which it muse maintain lf vital elation inthe frm ofa Langu o ore press, grammatical game, has, nthe form ofadscouse whe act)