Superficially, the Imperium of Man within Games Workshop’s ‘Warhammer 40,000’ fictional universe is presented as a pastiche theocratic autocracy. Its sprawling territory is ruled by the Lord Commander of the Imperium and the Council of the High Lords of Terra on behalf of the God Emperor of Mankind. At a mundane level, Imperial authority is invoked in relation to almost every aspect of human life within the Imperium, whether that be military or civilian, or spiritual or temporal. Seen in this light, the Imperium might be thought uninteresting from the perspective of legal philosophy: just one more cautionary tale of the horrors that can arise from rule by tyrannical diktat, rather than the rule of law. Below the surface, however, the Imperium is more complex and interesting than this simple picture suggests. Under the broad umbrella of imperial authorisation, plural authority claims are made, many of which rest on fundamentally inconsistent foundations. The normative regimes of the Adeptus Astartes, Custodes, Mechanicus, and Ministorum, for example, each claim direct authority from the God Emperor in ways that invite contestation and conflict. By focusing on these competing authority claims, the Imperium is revealed as a fictional setting in relation to which fruitful philosophical reflection can take place on the nature of law. First, it permits the much-discussed concept of ‘legal pluralism’ to be examined within a setting unburdened by limitations of contemporary technology (or even the laws of physics). Second, it also functions as an effective thought experiment within which different conceptions of authority itself can be explored. This paper establishes several ways in which these two tasks might be approached, focusing upon the contestation between spiritual and temporal authority as a normative foundation for imperial law, as well contestations between military and civic authorities in circumstances of ‘permanent emergency’.
Author bio
Alex Green is a Senior Lecturer at York Law School and an Academic Associate of 23ES Chambers. His research focuses on public international law, political theory, and legal philosophy.
