Chronological injustice

Chronological injustice

In her little classic On Violence , Hannah Arendt quotes two complaints against the injustice of time.

Alexander Herzen: “Human development is a form of chronological injustice, since late-comers are able to profit by the labors of their predecessors without paying the same price.”

And Kant: “it will always remain bewildering . . . that the earlier generations seem to carry on their burdensome business only for the sake of the latter . . . and that only the last should have the good fortune to dwell in the [completed] building.”

And they’re right, if the dead never share in the ultimate fruit of their labors.

Which means: No chronological justice without resurrection.


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