Christoph Menke is a third-generation Frankfurt School theorist, and widely acknowledged as one of the most interesting philosophers in Germany today. His lead essay focuses on the fundamental question for legal and political philosophy: the relationship between law and violence. The first part of the essay shows why and in what precise sense the law is irreducibly violent; the second part establishes the possibility of the law becoming self-reflectively aware of its own violence. The volume contains responses by María del Rosario Acosta López, Daniel Loick, Alessandro Ferrara, Ben Morgan, Andreas Fischer-Lescano and Alexander García Düttmann. It concludes with Menke's reply to his critics.

Christoph Menke is Professor of Philosophy at Goethe University, Frankfurt

Part I: Lead essay 1 Law and violence - Christoph Menke Part II: Responses 2 Between law and violence: towards a re-thinking of legal justice in transitional justice contexts - María del Rosario Acosta López 3 Law without violence - Daniel Loick 4 Deconstructing the deconstruction of the law: reflections on Menke's 'Law and violence' - Alessandro Ferrara 5 Law in action: Ian McEwan's The Children Act and the limits of the legal practices in Menke's 'Law and violence' - Ben Morgan 6 Postmodern legal theory as critical theory - Andreas Fischer-Lescano 7 Self-reflection - Alexander García Düttmann Part III: Reply 8 A reply to my critics - Christoph Menke