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102

The sublation of crime, in this sphere of the immediacy of right, is at first revenge, just according to its content, insofar as it is retribution. But according to its form, it is the act of a subjective will, which can put its infinity into every violation that has occurred, and whose justice is therefore contingent in general, just as it, too, is only particular for the other. Revenge thereby becomes, since it is the positive act of a particular will, a new violation: as this contradiction, it falls into a progression to infinity, and propagates itself from generation to generation without limit.

Where crimes are prosecuted and punished not as crimina publica but as privata (as among the Jews, among the Romans in the case of theft and robbery, among the English still in some cases, and so on), punishment still retains at least a part of revenge within it. Distinct from private revenge is the exercise of revenge by heroes, adventuring knights, and so on, which falls into the emergence of states.

DE

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2 responses to “102”

  1. Hegel (Notes) Avatar
    Hegel (Notes)

    Reversal – against the criminal – his positive will appears, is posited – only as another positive will – likewise an arbitrary, contingent will.
    The arbitrariness of the individual in bringing the matter to court. – Where there is no plaintiff, no judge; – public prosecutor –
    [to this, in pencil:] Revenge

  2. Eduard Gans (Additions) Avatar
    Eduard Gans (Additions)

    In a condition of society where there are neither judges nor laws, punishment always takes the form of revenge, and this remains deficient insofar as it is the act of a subjective will and hence not in accordance with the content. The persons of the court are indeed also persons, but their will is the universal will of the law, and they seek to put nothing into the punishment that is not found in the nature of the matter itself. By contrast, to the injured party the wrong does not appear in its quantitative and qualitative limitation, but only as wrong in general, and in exacting retribution he may overreach himself, which would in turn lead to new wrong. Among uncivilized peoples, revenge is undying, as among the Arabs, where it can be suppressed only by superior force or by the impossibility of carrying it out, and in several present-day legislations a remnant of revenge still survives, in that it is left to individuals whether they wish to bring an injury before the court or not.

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