Law, Justice and Reconstruction

(Derrida Reads Benjamin)

Abstract

Derrida often used the expression justice à venir, justice to come, or démocratie à venir, democracy to come. These expressions mean exactly that: justice or democracy to come, one that is coming, arriving, however one that is never realized. Every law making, as well as every law enforcement lives off the anticipated advance of this future justice, in its performance act it places itself into “as if already” of such justice. It is like the “as if” contained in Kant’s categorical imperative and it calls for similar respect. In this connection, Derrida speaks also about certain inevitable and unavoidable theoretical fiction. Where Benjamin in the last instance defines his believe in God and in godly violence as “justice of purposes”, Derrida demands perseverance in this theoretical fiction as a fiction and its acceptance. That in turn represents certain experience: “Experience of the impossible”. “Experience of the impossible” does not just mean that one has to back off because one is not able to accomplish something, but it escalates this demand even more.