The Broken Tablets of Moses and the Exodus from (Post-) Modernity: On Rethinking the Role and the Rule of Law in a Dialogical Way

Stemming from an interdisciplinary debate among scholars commonly involved in the rethinking of theoretical paradigms of criminal justice, the essay offers a few legal-philosophical considerations about the concept of law that underlies the innovative proposals of Restorative Justice, whose revolutionary elements have difficulties in finding a good match with the traditional legal-theoretical categories. The notion of 'rule of law' is at stake, mostly in its modern and postmodern character. Thereby the essay proposes to rethink the idea of law itself, in favour of a 'dialogical' approach, influenced also by G.B. Vico's critical proposal. The essay ends with a 'law and literature' insight about the biblical image of Moses' tablets.