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Kafka and the Atheism of Truth: A Critical Analysis of The Silence of the Sirens and the Constructivist Restitution of the Axiom of Truth in Law

Authors

  • Juan Manuel Gaitán UBA - UNSAM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22187/rfd2026n60a2

Keywords:

Franz Kafka, atheism of truth, truth and method, legal discourse, constructivism of truth

Abstract

This paper offers a critical analysis of Kafka's The Silence of the Sirens as an allegory of atheism of truth. The story is deconstructed into three narrative layers: first, the Homeric Ulysses (the scientist) facing the song of the sirens; then, the naive Ulysses facing the silence of the sirens; and finally, exposing his true polypory (knowledge appears as invention). The latter converges with Kant's denial of access to the noumenon and, above all, with Nietzsche's philosophy, for whom knowledge is a fiction functional to the will to power. This reinforces the reading of the third layer of Kafka's text as a critique of the claim to truth. Thus, we arrive at a philosophical reflection on law, problematising the notions of truth and method in the construction of legal discourse, as well as the conception of its foundations and the relationship between norm and reality. Finally, as a possible way out of this aporia, we propose the complementarity of two constructivist theories of truth: John Rawls' Kantian
constructivism and Van Roermund's interception hypothesis.

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Published

2026-03-09

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How to Cite

Gaitán, J. M. (2026). Kafka and the Atheism of Truth: A Critical Analysis of The Silence of the Sirens and the Constructivist Restitution of the Axiom of Truth in Law. Revista De La Facultad De Derecho, (60). https://doi.org/10.22187/rfd2026n60a2

Issue

No. 60 (2026)

Section

Dossier

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Copyright (c) 2026 Juan Manuel Gaitán

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