Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c433IR // #c433Synthesis

"Thou shalt not kill" is not a criterion for judgement. It is a guideline for the actions of persons or communities who have to wrestle with it in solitude and, in exceptional cases, to take on themselves the responsibility of ignoring it.

— In our words · Source: Critique of Violence (Walter Benjamin)

[Use when]

The exception is invoked and someone claims the law already settled it.

[Why it matters]

Even the absolute commandment leaves the exception to solitary responsibility — no law can decide in advance when it may be suspended, which is exactly where sovereign power lives.

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