Bogdan Ovcharuk

The Eclipse of Natural Right in Walter Benjamin’s Natural History of Baroque Sovereignty

Introduction

The eclipse of natural right in walter benjamin’s natural history of baroque sovereignty. Explores Walter Benjamin's "natural history" of Baroque sovereignty, its legal critique of Fascism, and rejection of natural right. Analyzes legal positivism and reactionary politics.

Abstract

In Origin of the German Trauerspiel, Benjamin offers a “natural history” of Baroque sovereignty. This paper examines how the Baroque allegory of nature, implied in the natural history approach, informs Benjamin’s legal critique and analysis of Fascism. I begin by discussing Benjamin’s historico-philosophical approach to law and justice in “Critique of Violence,” where the evocation of natural history occurs against the backdrop of Benjamin’s rejection of any affirmative concept of natural right. This negative criticism is shown to have originated in Trauerspiel, where natural history as a method contains the discoveries Benjamin made about the 17th-century Baroque allegory of nature in philosophical, theological, and aesthetic terms. The portrayal of nature as fallen, transient, and positivized informs Benjamin’s theory of Baroque sovereignty and his understanding of the fate of legal positivism. At the crux of this paper, I show that this conservative-revolutionary hermeneutics enables a profound understanding of reactionary political phenomena from the 19th-century Romantic counter-revolution and restoration to the 20th-century Fascist triumph of legal positivism. In particular, Benjamin’s natural history reveals the origins of Schmitt’s total state in these persisting tendencies with origins in the political theory of the 17th-century absolute monarchy. However, regardless of the metaphysical depth of Benjamin’s natural history of Baroque sovereignty, his dismissal of the natural right tradition leads him to pit fallen positive law against redemptive utopianism in a way that fails to expound any realizable just ends. I conclude that the limitation of this approach, which is reflected in antinomian interpretations of Benjamin, can be remedied with an expanded program of natural history that calls forth the materialist dialectical critique of historical contradictions of rational natural right without rejecting it.

Review

This paper presents an ambitious and intricate examination of Walter Benjamin's concept of "natural history" as developed in *Origin of the German Trauerspiel*, skillfully tracing its implications for his legal critique and analysis of Fascism. The author meticulously unpacks how the Baroque allegory of nature – characterized as fallen, transient, and positivized – profoundly shapes Benjamin's understanding of sovereignty, legal positivism, and the fate of natural right. A significant strength lies in the paper's clear exposition of Benjamin's negative criticism of natural right, showing its roots in *Trauerspiel* and its resonance with the "Critique of Violence." By connecting these philosophical, theological, and aesthetic discoveries to a broader critique of legal theory, the paper establishes a compelling framework for understanding the historical trajectory of reactionary political thought. The core of the paper effectively demonstrates how Benjamin's "conservative-revolutionary hermeneutics" provides a profound lens through which to analyze persistent political phenomena, from the 19th-century Romantic counter-revolution to 20th-century Fascism. The argument that Benjamin's natural history reveals the origins of Carl Schmitt's total state in the political theory of 17th-century absolute monarchy is particularly insightful, highlighting the deep historical currents underlying modern authoritarianism. Crucially, the author does not merely interpret Benjamin but also critically engages with him. The paper astutely identifies a limitation in Benjamin's approach: his complete dismissal of the natural right tradition creates an unbridgeable chasm between fallen positive law and a somewhat unrealizable utopianism. This leads to a thoughtful proposal for remedying this limitation, advocating for an "expanded program of natural history" that allows for a materialist dialectical critique of rational natural right without its outright rejection, suggesting a path toward more "realizable just ends." Overall, this is a highly sophisticated and valuable contribution to Benjamin scholarship, legal philosophy, and political theory. Its interdisciplinary scope, combining deep textual analysis with historical and theoretical synthesis, makes it a significant intervention that will undoubtedly stimulate further debate. The paper's ability to navigate complex philosophical concepts and historical periods with precision, while also offering its own critical refinement of Benjamin's framework, underscores its scholarly merit. By illuminating the "eclipse of natural right" and its enduring consequences for understanding political phenomena from Baroque absolutism to modern totalitarianism, the paper offers timely insights into the historical vulnerabilities of legal systems and the philosophical challenges of achieving justice. This work is essential reading for scholars interested in Benjamin, critical legal theory, and the intellectual history of political power.

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