„Wszyscy oskarżeni są piękni...”. Antynomie doświadczenia prawa w prozie Franza Kafki

This article is an attempt to demonstrate the specificity of a relation of a human subject to the institution of law in the form in which it was presented in Franz Kafka’s prose, linking it closely with the writer’s approach to the figure of the father. I indicate that in both cases this relation is based on the feeling of guilt, with no “redemption” possible. However, the difference is that in the first case this is the feeling of guilt towards an anonymous institution of the positive law as such, whereas in the second case guilt as guilt towards the father is of personal nature. In the first case, the problem of “the accused” lies in the fact that the accusation and judgment whether someone is guilty or not has no clearly defined point of reference. It is not guilt towards “someone” – e.g. towards God, the father, the sovereign etc. – but towards law itself. This is law which is the prosecutor and decides on guilt. This, in turn, means that one is guilty before no one. The positive law is the acephalous law, this is the headless law. Therefore, any attempt to prove own innocence towards it is doomed to failure.