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The Concept of the Political: Expanded Edition
by
Carl Schmitt
In this, his most influential work, legal theorist and political philosopher Carl Schmitt argues that liberalism’s basis in individual rights cannot provide a reasonable justification for sacrificing oneself for the state—a critique as cogent today as when it first appeared. George Schwab’s introduction to his translation of the 1932 German edition highlights Schmitt’s int...more
Paperback, 162 pages
Published
May 15th 2007
by University of Chicago Press
(first published 1976)
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Carl Schmitt, like Martin Heidegger, has the scary Nazi stain permanently covering his philosophical legacy. Despite his "tainted" reputation, "The Concept of the Political" is still regarded by those on the "right" and "left", as one of the best overviews on how politics work (or more like how they don't work).
Schmitt brings up such things as how whenever the leaders of a country want to go and mass murderer a bunch of people in war, the le...more
Schmitt brings up such things as how whenever the leaders of a country want to go and mass murderer a bunch of people in war, the le...more
Two ways to make a big deal of a book: make sure its author was momentarily a Nazi, and, by the logical principle of contagion, follow the logic: author was a nazi --> book is certainly nazified; reader reader book --> reader becomes a nazi. Bam! This is the most dangerous book you'll ever read!
Except it's barely 'political' in that sense at all, and is more of an essay than a book. The thought process is clear and not unreasonable: if there's something called politics, it must ...more
Except it's barely 'political' in that sense at all, and is more of an essay than a book. The thought process is clear and not unreasonable: if there's something called politics, it must ...more
Schmitt argues that the basic distinction in politics is between friend and foe, in its extremity this leads to war, which the state alone can declare. The enemy is not necessarily morally evil or an economic competitor. The enemy is not a private enemy, but a public one.
There is an emphasis on the real enemy, real war, not the symbolic or metaphorical
The political has been lost to politics, that is the politics of sovereignty has been overcome by liberal efforts to constrain the pol...more
There is an emphasis on the real enemy, real war, not the symbolic or metaphorical
The political has been lost to politics, that is the politics of sovereignty has been overcome by liberal efforts to constrain the pol...more
Now this book is not for everyone. It's cryptic and sparse language is difficult to digest, and if one is not on level with Schmitt's vast erudition, it can be hard to follow. Also, his arguments are based on massive amounts of assumptions that are not made entirely explicit all the time.
Regardless of all this, however, I find Carl Schmitt to be one of the greatest political thinkers of the twentieth century. Whatever one thinks of him, he poses one of the most formidable challenges t...more
Regardless of all this, however, I find Carl Schmitt to be one of the greatest political thinkers of the twentieth century. Whatever one thinks of him, he poses one of the most formidable challenges t...more
De todos los libros que tuve que leer para Teoría Política,. este fue lejos el mejor. Pero una precaución: no esta´recomendado para ilusos, utópicos, idealistas. Es para quien quiera llegar a "la esencia" de la política, que para Schmitt radica en el "conflicto", no verbal o económico, sino que "existencial", es decir, la oposición específicamente política es la de amigo-enemigo, y se define porque al menos existe la eventualidad de matarse mutuamente.
LA críti...more
LA críti...more
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schmitt suggests that the concept of the political is rooted in the "friend-enemy" distinction. not a moral enemy, a business enemy...but an existential "other" that always implies the possibility of conflict and war. it's eerie how this book, written in the late 20's, speaks very much to the current political landscape - i mean, US and china? yeah.
Pat Blanchfield
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Shelves:
staying-sane-in-new-york
What a wham-bam shazzam tour-de-force! After finishing it, I'm not sure if I'm leaning more left or rightwards.
"It is a manifest fraud to condemn war as homicide and then demand of men that they wage war, kill and be killed, so that there will never again be war. War, the readiness of combatants to die, the physical killing of human beings who belong on the side of the enemy - all this has no normative meaning but an existential meaning only, particularly in a real combat situa...more
"It is a manifest fraud to condemn war as homicide and then demand of men that they wage war, kill and be killed, so that there will never again be war. War, the readiness of combatants to die, the physical killing of human beings who belong on the side of the enemy - all this has no normative meaning but an existential meaning only, particularly in a real combat situa...more
While riding the subway to work and reading this one morning, a friend of mine flagged me down and cringed when she saw what I was reading. "What's that about?" she asked, and I responded "Well, not to spoil the surprise, but at the end like ten million people die."
Blank stare in response although I don't know whether it was because she got the joke, or because she didn't.
The companion material in this book does a pretty good job of elaborating on Schm...more
Blank stare in response although I don't know whether it was because she got the joke, or because she didn't.
The companion material in this book does a pretty good job of elaborating on Schm...more
right we are pro-dictatorship here.
Knarik
rated it
Shelves:
art,
classics,
culture,
religion-philosophy,
politics,
historical,
non-fiction,
society-relationship
“The specific political distinction to which political actions and motives can be reduced is that between friend and enemy”. A very interesting exploration of what the political and non-political realm encompasses, a detailed categorization of different types of conflicts, as well as a strong criticism of liberalism as a system which destroys democracy (the way Schmitt understood and accepted democracy). Asserts the need of having a strong state as the decision maker and the ultimate power.
Trying to understand Schmitt in the 'light' of Straussianism (itself an unnatural construction) and a historicist conception of liberalism. Struggling with the de facto statism and what strikes me as a romantic essentializing of binary antagonism, quite apart from any system that might guide one's choice of affines. Not a little problematic in that Schmitt was so damn poor in choosing his own.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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A frank explanation of politics, and the fact of an ever-present adversary in some form. No 'political science' is really science, and most 'political theory' is nonsense, but Schmitt seems to be saying things that match up with reality here.
I need to read this again.
I need to read this again.
I've taken up this work in my graduate studies. Schmitt argues that the basis for politics is the distinction made between friend and enemy, that this distinction is public and not private, and that there is Greco-Christian precedent for such a distinction.
When I give this book "five stars," what I mean is, "I wrote my thesis on it." Schmitt became my main focus in grad school. I would hardly say I loved this book, but it's an essential part of my life as a scholar.
what it takes to be a real asshole
here's a link to a relevant article, that puts this book in it's place.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-...
here's a link to a relevant article, that puts this book in it's place.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-...
So much theory, so neatly packed into such a thin book. Hard to agree Schmitt and his ideas, but he argues well
As Richard Bernstein once called out to a friend of mine while she was reading this book:
"Don't be seduced!"
"Don't be seduced!"
LA POLITIQUE EST UN LIEU DE LUTTES PERMANENTES CARACTERISE PAR LA RELATION AMI-ENNEMI
dangerous, yet brilliant.
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Carl Schmitt was a German jurist, Catholic philosopher, political theorist, and professor of law. Schmitt published several essays, influential in the 20th century and beyond, on the mentalities that surround the effective wielding of political power. His ideas have attracted the attention of numerous philosophers and political theorists, including Walter Benjamin, Leo Strauss, Jacques Derrida, Ét...more
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