Sources of Law and Authority in Jacques Derrida’s Concepts

This article delves into the examination of the transformation of language in modern legal philosophy under the influence of the poststructuralist paradigm, particularly focusing on the concepts of Jacques Derrida. The study analyzes the specificity of applying the methodological apparatus of deconstruction to key issues in the general theory of state and law, such as the nature of power, legitimacy, and the justification of legal authority. Particular attention is paid to Derrida’s concept of the mystical foundation of power, which reveals the aporetic nature of any constitutive legal act, inevitably intertwined with constitutive violence. It is emphasized that the identification of this internal contradiction does not lead to legal nihilism; rather, it opens up a space for ethically responsible decision-making and a permanent critique of the existing legal order. The author concludes that deconstruction, as equated by Derrida with justice, serves as a condition for the possibility of responsible legal and political practice, grounded in the recognition of the fundamental unattainability of absolute justice and the responsibility towards the Other.