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Carl Schmitt

    July 11, 1888 – April 7, 1985

    Carl Schmitt was a German legal theorist whose influential works emerged during the Weimar Republic. His theories on sovereignty, the crisis of parliamentary democracy, and politics rooted in the friend-enemy distinction shaped his thought. While Schmitt aimed to defend the Weimar Constitution, his writings at times signaled a shift toward a more authoritarian political framework. His later scholarship turned to international law, critiquing liberal cosmopolitanism and culminating in his foundational work on the international legal order.

    Carl Schmitt
    Legality and Legitimacy
    On the three types of juristic thought
    Dictatorship
    Constitutional Theory
    The tyranny of values and other texts
    Ex captivitate salus
    • 2022
    • 2018

      The tyranny of values and other texts

      • 230 pages
      • 9 hours of reading
      4.3(11)Add rating

      Written during the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, and the Cold War, this collection of occasional pieces provides an instructive look at the ways in which Carl Schmitt employed his theories in order to make judgments about contemporary historical events and problems. Covering topics such as the political significance of universalism and jurisprudence, the meaning of the partisan, the world-historical significance of the Cold War, the deterioration of metaphysics into "values," the relationship between theoretical concepts and concrete historical situations, and his views on thinkers such as Machiavelli, Bodin, and Rousseau, these essays establish a revealing counterpoint to his more formal work. They react on the one hand directly to contemporary political questions and demonstrate the way in which he saw the immediate historical significance of his ideas. On the other hand, he also feels free to provide in these pieces the kinds of methodological reflections that help us to better understand the particular epistemological framework that makes his thought so unique.

      The tyranny of values and other texts
    • 2017

      Ex captivitate salus

      • 120 pages
      • 5 hours of reading

      When Germany was defeated in 1945, both the Russians and the Americans undertook mass internments in the territories they occupied. The Americans called their approach 'automatic arrest'.

      Ex captivitate salus
    • 2015

      Dialogues on Power and Space

      • 120 pages
      • 5 hours of reading
      3.7(29)Add rating

      In this insightful work, Carl Schmitt explores political power and geopolitics during the early Cold War through two dialogues. He reexamines key concepts of his political theory, addressing the historical role of human agency and the global transformations of the era, while anticipating future debates on geopolitical challenges and technological advancements.

      Dialogues on Power and Space
    • 2013

      Dictatorship

      • 288 pages
      • 11 hours of reading
      4.1(65)Add rating

      Carl Schmitt is widely recognized as one of the most important political theorists of the 20th century. This is the only remaining work by Carl Schmitt which has not yet been translated into English.

      Dictatorship
    • 2011
    • 2009

      Hamlet or Hecuba

      • 119 pages
      • 5 hours of reading
      3.3(34)Add rating

      "Though Carl Schmitt is best known for his legal and political theory, his 1956 Hamlet or Hecuba provides an innovative and insightful analysis of Shakespeare's tragedy in terms of the historical situation of its creation. Schmitt argues that the significance of Shakespeare's work hinges on its ability to integrate history in the form of the taboo of the queen and the deformation of the figure of the avenger. He uses this interpretation to develop a theory of myth and politics that serves as a cultural foundation for his concept of political representation. More than literary criticism or historical analysis, Schmitt's book lays out a comprehensive theory of the relationship between aesthetics and politics that responds to alternative ideas developed by Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno. Jennifer R. Rust and Julia Reinhard Lupton's introduction places Schmitt's work in the context of contemporary Renaissance studies, and David Pan's afterword analyzes the links to Schmitt's political theory. Presented in its entirety in an authorized translation, Hamlet or Hecuba is essential reading for scholars of Shakespeare and Schmitt alike."--Publisher's website.

      Hamlet or Hecuba
    • 2008

      Published here for the first time in English, this is Carl Schmitt s last book. Carl Schmitt is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important and influential political theorists of the 20th Century.

      Political Theology II
    • 2008

      Theory of the partisan

      • 120 pages
      • 5 hours of reading
      3.9(274)Add rating

      Theory of the Partisan analyzes a specific and significant phenomenon that ushered in a new theory of war and enmity. It contains an implicit theory of the terrorist, which in the 21st century has ushered in yet another new theory of war and enmity. Consequently, this work is not only of historical interest, but is relevant to contemporary political and military developments and concerns.

      Theory of the partisan
    • 2008

      Constitutional Theory

      • 560 pages
      • 20 hours of reading
      4.2(46)Add rating

      Provides an interpretation of the Weimar Constitution. This book presents an argument that the legitimacy of a constitution depends on a sovereign decision of people. It develops an understanding of liberal constitutionalism that makes room for a strong, independent state. It includes an introduction by Jeffrey Seitzer and Christopher Thornhill.

      Constitutional Theory