A mechanical daughter of the Enlightenment, the guillotine remains a frightening symbol of their dialectic. Being one of the most troubling inventions of utilitarian rationalism in modern Europe, it meets the expectations of equality, secularism, and humanity of the legal culture of Philosophes. Focusing on the texts and contexts of the institution of this lethal machine in the administration of justice, this article examines the anthropological sense and the political dimension of the recourse to the machine. Is the mechanization of capital punishment a step forward in the humanization of social relations or the entry in the era of technical inhumanity? In this ambiguity, is it not our use of technology that appears in court?
Illuminismo e giustizia penale. Il caso della ghigliottina
Luigi DELIA
2011
Abstract
A mechanical daughter of the Enlightenment, the guillotine remains a frightening symbol of their dialectic. Being one of the most troubling inventions of utilitarian rationalism in modern Europe, it meets the expectations of equality, secularism, and humanity of the legal culture of Philosophes. Focusing on the texts and contexts of the institution of this lethal machine in the administration of justice, this article examines the anthropological sense and the political dimension of the recourse to the machine. Is the mechanization of capital punishment a step forward in the humanization of social relations or the entry in the era of technical inhumanity? In this ambiguity, is it not our use of technology that appears in court?I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
