| Summary: | In Albert Camus’ play The Just Assassins, religion and spirituality are of paramount importance, as can be seen especially in the interaction between the protagonist Kaliayev and the devoutly religious Grand Duchess, who expresses her steadfast view, for example, in the following words: “There is no love far from God” (289). However, is this religious conception of ‘love’ exactly what is at the heart of Camus’ play The Just Assassins? Indeed there is a different notion of spirituality, associated with revolt, which is more central to Camus’ writings and notably his major theoretical text The Rebel. What sort of spirituality is put forward and how might it be differentiated from religious convictions and the coming of the kingdom of God? In what sense is there a spirituality in The Just Assassins, particularly in the relentless revolt by Kaliayev and the members of the fraternity? Furthermore, is there not a fundamental position of ‘faith’ implied not simply in religion but also in the conception of knowledge itself? Jacques Derrida has discussed this question in “Faith and Knowledge,” in Acts of Religion, among other texts, where he describes a notion of ‘faith’, which precedes the opposition between religion and reason. In what way might there be, in Camus’ The Rebel and play The Just Assassins, a ‘faith’, which is distinguished from religious beliefs and which is necessarily linked to justice and the limits of revolt.
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