Justification of political violence: Proposal of a theoretical social model

Abstract

In this article, I propose a theoretical social model for analysis of the phenomenon of the justification of political violence. The model incorporates both sociological and philosophical perspectives, addresses the empirical discursive phenomenon of offering justifications for political violence, and supports the normative evaluation of such justifications. In particular, I reconstruct the instrumental rationalist mode of justification of political violence, as well as a series of immanent or internal criticisms thereof. In addition, I acknowledge certain limitations of the proposed model by exploring possibilities that go beyond the very framework of the logic of justification. I close by offering a number of conclusions.