Metaphysics (Mar 2014)
Law, Justice and Responsibility in the Philosophy of Jacques Derrida
Abstract
The works written in Persian about Jacques Derrida or the works translated into Persian about and from him have concentrated on Derrida’s aesthetic tendencies and forgotten his political philosophy and thought. But, we should know that his political philosophy and thought are so rich and working on them is necessary for our philosophical communities. In English-speaking world, it is for a decade that Derrida’s political thought has attracted writers’ and scholars’ attention. The works written in this period have concentrated independently on Derrida’s political philosophy and thought or have ‘politicized’ his aesthetic concepts. In this essay, we are trying to investigate the concepts of law, justice and responsibility in the philosophy of Derrida. First, we will clarify the distinctions between law and justice. For doing so, we will pay attention to Derridean concept of ‘deconstruction’. For Derrida, as we will see, law is ‘deconstructible’ and justice is ‘undeconstructible’. Second, we will investigate the relations between law, justice and responsibility. We will conclude that justice, contrary to law, does not prevent us from taking responsibility.
