Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.

The sentence opens a fragment of the Pensées entitled “Justice, force”. Pascal first lays down two necessities: “it is just that what is just should be followed”, and “it is necessary that what is strongest should be followed”. Then the impasse: justice without force “is contradicted, because there are always wicked men”; force without justice “is accused”. The just would therefore have to be strong, and the strong just. But justice is open to dispute, whereas force “is very recognisable and beyond dispute”.

The conclusion is bitter: unable to make justice strong, men have made force just, and “what one is forced to observe is called just”. Pascal takes no pleasure in this: he is describing the real foundations of political order.

The Pensées appeared in 1670, eight years after Pascal’s death. This fragment, much discussed in political philosophy, reminds us that law needs a power behind it and that a power without law is nothing but tyranny. It is quoted to defend the rule of law as much as to denounce naked force.

Pensées, 1670

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