The Paradoxical Essence of Law: “Michael Kohlhaas” by Kleist and Artificial Intelligence as Judge Cover Image
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Парадоксалният характер на закона: „Михаел Колхас“ на Клайст и изкуственият интелект като съдия
The Paradoxical Essence of Law: “Michael Kohlhaas” by Kleist and Artificial Intelligence as Judge

Author(s): Georgi Iliev
Subject(s): Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Studies of Literature, Epistemology, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Aesthetics, Theory of Literature, Philosophy of Law
Published by: Институт за литература - БАН
Keywords: Michael Kohlhaas; Napoleonic Code; Kafka; Peirce’s interpretant; Wittgenstein’s use; artificial intelligence

Summary/Abstract: The article aims to historically reconstruct the political context in which Heinrich von Kleist wrote his novella “Michael Kohlhaas.” The juridical layer of the text is interpreted as a reaction to the introduction of the Napoleonic Code in the Prussian Lands during the Napoleonic Wars. The study reads the analyzed novella as a form of resistance to the unification of all legal systems required by the Code, following the intricacies of the injustices to which Michael Kohlhaas falls victim. In the article, other examples of similar cases of “unification from above” are provided. One of them is “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka. The other regards the suggestions to use AI in legal action. For the analysis, the concept of “interpretant” of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce is applied. Ludwig Wittgenstein’s notion of “use” is also employed to explain the constantly changing and actualizing text of the law.

  • Issue Year: 68/2025
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 77-91
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Bulgarian
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