Figures of history, foundations of law: Acéphale , Angelus Novus , and the Katechon

In this paper, I offer the reader a survey of three figures of history, namely, Bataille's Acéphale , Benjamin's Angelus Novus , and Schmitt's Katechon . My approach will not be to provide an exhaustive exegetical account. Instead I focus on the primary texts and provide the reader with comparative sketches. This is important because each of these figures respond to the crisis of authority in the 1930s. Each of them uses the concept of the moment or now as a way of questioning law, and legitimate authority. My aim is to explore the similarities and differences that relate them.