Law and violence according to Benjamin

Abstract

This article attempts to explain the relationship between violence and law from the perspective of WalterBenjamin, in the 1921 essay: “For a critique of violence.” The philosopher addresses positive law in relation toviolence, and bases his criticism on a philosophical perspective and not on natural law or positivism. Thisarticle, on the other hand, studies the power, strength and authority that law establishes and preserves andthat allows it to control life to the point of almost suppressingit. At the same time, the results of this researchadmit other forms of organization far from the violence of law or the State, that is, a model based on the “cultureof the heart.”