Abstract

According to Michel Foucault's reflections on the social role of intellectuals, the traditional, “universal“ intellectual has always been a “man of law“ whose discourse was centred on law and justice. The social recognition and relevance of this intellectual type, however, was in decline, as the task of criticism was increasingly assigned to “specific“ intellectuals provided with expert knowledge. This article shows to what extent the intellectuals' commitment has often been revolving around the topic of law and in which juridical forms it has been embedded. Emile Zolas “j'accuse“ is just one example of intellectuals employing a juridical diction. Furthermore, it will be argued that the age of the juridical intellectual has not yet come to an end