The Infinity of Justice and the Aporia of Law in Derrida’s “Force of Law：The‘Mystical Foundation of Authority’”

Since 1960s, derridian deconstruction has been challenging dogmas and the dichotomy in western literary and philosophical tradition. In 90s, Jacques Derrida delivered many works on ethico-political issues, among which an important speech and later on published work “Force of law: ‘The Mystical Foundation of Authority’”, marking the so-called ethico-political turn of deconstruction. Through a close reading of “Force of Law” and tracing its connection with Emmanuel Levinas’ ethics of other, this essay attempts to present how deconstructive thinking of law could sustain a claim demanding justice to be realized in law. In chapter 2 and 3, the paradoxical relation of law and justice in “Force of Law” is pictured. Law is taken as a language system with a closure of meaning. That which is beyond the horizon of legal knowledge falls into the horizon of justice. Law and justice seems to form a pair of opposites, however, they are at the origin formed as such by a differentiating force, indeed a violent force, which makes law and justice obscurely mutual-dependent. In chapter 4, main ideas of Levinas’ ethics of other are discussed in order to show how Derrida’s law-justice relation turns to be an ethical relation in which law is obliged to be responsive to the demand of justice. Furthermore, differentiating forces or the violent structure within political organizations, linguistic systems, human knowledge formation, even in time-space framework is also discussed. Chapter 5 gives a tentative try on introducing deconstructive reading methods into legal interpretation and decision. What deconstructive reading could benefit is its focus on the limit of legal notions and the aporias in legal activity. Working on these cites of deconstruction may help with the transformation of law. In conclusion, deconstructive thinking of law asks for vigilance of law’s finitude, historicity, and its violent structure. Even if the law may not fully realize justice itself under the infinite movement of temporalization, this vigilance at least will keep law away from the worst violence of non-difference, and help it stay in the right way towards justice.