Can we make a coherent distinction between force, power and violence? Is this distinction political, ethical or metaphysical? The Force of Reason and the Logic of Force investigates historical episodes in which the concepts of force, power and violence arise in relation to the traditional distinction between appearance and reality. The book argues that force, power, and violence belong to the realm of appearances, while reality is posited as grasped by the 'logic of reason'. These historical episodes show that a 'logic of force' can be developed that does not reduce appearances to some higher level of reality.