The absence of contradiction and the contradiction of absence: law, ethics and the Holocaust

It may not be too much of an exaggeration to note that the history of critical theory can be characterised by one overarching debate.1 On the one side, and originating with Kant, is the grounding of critique of modernity upon absence. On the other side, and beginning with Hegel, the premise of critique is contradiction. Kant’s work is structured around the absence of full cognisance of the moral law, whilst, for Hegel, ethical life is presented as the reconciliation of contradictory elements already present in the world. In recent years, the terms of the debate have shifted markedly in favour of absence.