The thirst of those with impaired judgement

It is uncertain that the information given to the public regarding the murder of a little Jewish granny, defenestrated in the middle of Paris in the silence and inaction of those around her, and then the acquittal of the culprit, allows anyone to exercise their judgement. Henceforth, here we all are benefitting from indulgences and being freed of all responsibility, at least moral responsibility, judges included, in an affair whose cause would simply be a loophole in the legislation—to be rectified as soon as possibly, because we are jolly good fellows, hey!

Does my impaired judgement still leave me the possibility nonetheless to make two remarks?

The first is that the term “judgement” is particularly incapable of realising the engagement of a subject in a culpable action. For example, in our case the murderer was perfectly able to judge the relevant text that could have indicated his action to him, and, far from making him confused, the cannabis only contributed to lifting his ordinary inhibitions. The drug didn’t impair or alter his behaviour and his judgment, it magnified them, and made his judgement sublime.

The second remark is one that is marked by a certain dread. In the circumstances of proposed legislation to regulate the practice of psychotherapies, I couldn’t then help, naïve as I am, being struck by the complete discordance between the reality of what is at stake and the information that had been given to the public, which is supposed to need to be protected. It is impressive on this occasion, quite different however, to see a community organise itself in a consensus with a shared lie. And, what seems serious about it, not just simply in regard to a traditional anti-Semitism but a type of spontaneous submission, which already seems to regulate the successive stages of this affair.

Is it civic-minded to remain silent, or is it a duty to contest ?

Charles Melman

30 April 2021

Traduction faite par Michael Plastow

P.S. Here I am passing over, as can be seen, the fact that if the faculty of judgement comes to us from the Other, we are all impaired in relation to judgement, even having this faculty abolished in the case of ideological or religious radicalism.