Definitions HQ

The Law (n.) after ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Kant is itself the absolute excess — the shattering force that breaks into our pleasure-oriented lives.

Law (n.) may ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only rule by relying on a subterranean interplay of cheatings and deceptions — the marriage asserted through an affair.

Law (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠nobody knows, as in Kafka's 'The Problem of Our Laws', ends as simply whatever the nobles decide — the only visible law is their will.

Law (n.) exists ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not to keep us close to the neighbor but to keep the neighbor at a proper distance — a protective wall against his monstrosity.

Law (n.) at ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the moment it emerges as pure, neutral and universal gives birth to its obscene superego underside, because the old life-world support, once opposed to the pure law, suddenly looks obscene.

Law (n.) at ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠its most tyrannical is not lawless but over-full: with enough mutually contradicting laws, power lies in choosing which one to enforce.

The Law (n.) feels ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠alien not for lacking love but for having too much: it stops crushing me once I drop the treasure I think can only be loved, never ruled.

The Law (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the absolute transgression in Hegel's matrix: the war of law against crime becomes the war of all petty crimes against one universal crime.

Law (n.) relies ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠on its own inherent transgression, so that when we suspend the transgression, the Law itself disintegrates.

The Law (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Kafka's parable was never just the Thing the man stared at; the door was there for him alone — the Law had been looking back at him all along.

Law (n.) rules ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not through its prohibitions but through their violation: it quietly lets us transgress, then shows the guilty how to transgress in a regulated way.

Law (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the (inherently unruly) principles upon which society is based, designating a mode of collective conduct based upon a set of prohibitions.

Law (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Kafka's parable keeps a door meant only for you; an analyst at that door would calmly tell the furious man that beyond it lies only what his desire puts there.

Law (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not the opposite of crime but crime universalized — crime raised to an unconditional principle; Javert, pure law, cannot endure goodness.

Law (n.) need ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not be accepted as true, only as necessary — 'a melancholy conclusion,' says Kafka's K., 'it turns lying into a universal principle'; what is repressed is that its authority is without truth.

Law (n.) must ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be obeyed not because it is just or good but simply because it is the law; its authority rests on mere acceptance, and whoever traces it to its first principle destroys it.

Law (n.) after ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Kant no longer depends on the Good; the Good depends on the law — self-grounded, its object unknowable, it defines a realm where one is already guilty without knowing the bounds, as with Oedipus.

Law (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠asserted for the first time in philosophy as unconscious: form without content is always the index of a repressed content, and the harder one clings to the empty form, the more traumatic the repressed.