Law's Sacrifice: Approaching the Problem of Sacrifice in Law, Literature, and Philosophy

Description

This volume examines the relationship between law and sacrifice as a crucial nexus for theorizing the dynamics of creation, destruction, transcendence, and violence within the philosophical and legal discourse of western society. At a time of populist political unrest, what philosophical and theoretical resources are available for conceptualizing the discontent that seems to emanate from practically every sphere of society? What narrative strategies have been employed within literary, theological, philosophical, and legal discourse to tame or mystify human violence? Engaging with the work of preeminent theorists of sacrifice, such as Georges Bataille, René Girard, Giorgio Agamben, and Jacques Derrida this collection examines from an interdisciplinary perspective the sacrificial logic that characterizes the cultural and political dynamics of law in society. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in the field of legal theory and philosophy. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of contributors 1. Introduction: Approaching the Problem of Sacrifice in Law, Literature, and Philosophy References 2. Sacrifice and the Origin of Law Violent Origins of Law The Paradox of the Katechon On Principalities and Powers and a Theological Critique of Archaic Sacrifice Conclusion Note References 3. Towards a Sacrificial Aneconomy? Georges Bataille and the Aporia of Sacrifice An Ethical Quest The Inner Experience Between Comedy and Holocaust The Impossibility of Dying The Aporia of Sacrifice Conclusion Notes References 4. (Misguided) Self-transcendence and the Imagination of Sacrifice Sacrifice and Self-transcendence Misguided Self-transcendence and Civil law: A Hegelian Perspective The Imagination of Sacrifice and Civil Society Conclusion Note References 5. A We Not Modeled on the I: The Law of Law, and Futurity The Derridean Law of Law The Summative We Law of Law and the Non-Summative We Lifedeath, Economization, and Law of Law Conclusion: A Peace that Surpasses Understanding Notes References 6. Homo Sacrificus: Sacrificial Economization and Neoliberal Subjectivity Theorizing Homo Sacrificus Sacrificial Economization and Neoliberal Existence Conclusion References 7. Law, Authority, and the Sovereign Exception: The (Im)possibility of Political Agency References 8. The Gift of Time and the Hour of Sacrifice: A Philosophical-Anthropological Analysis of the Deep Difference between Political Liberal and Populist Politics Self-Sacrifice or Sacrifice of the Other? The Return of an Archaic Concern with Sacrifice Why Now, and Who Actually? Expiation, Communion, Reduction of Ambiguity The Relation between Gift and Sacrifice in Archaic Societies Political Theology and Public Reason Conclusion: The Gift of Time and the Hour of Sacrifice Notes References 9. Sacrificial Liberalism: The Politics of Zeal and its Selective Denial in Rawls’s Political Liberalism Political Liberalism and Rawls’s Rule of Public Reason Rawls’s Abortion Footnote and its Implications Conclusion Note References Cases 10. The Sacrifice of Law’s Madness Extremist Ideologies as Counter Legal Narratives Law’s Risk of Madness Conclusion Notes References Index