The Lesson of Carl Schmitt: Four Chapters on the Distinction between Political Theology and Political Philosophy, Expanded Edition - Softcover

Meier, Heinrich

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226518868 ISBN 13: 9780226518862

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2011

Synopsis

Heinrich Meier’s work on Carl Schmitt has dramatically reoriented the international debate about Schmitt and his significance for twentieth-century political thought. In The Lesson of Carl Schmitt, Meier identifies the core of Schmitt’s thought as political theology—that is, political theorizing that claims to have its ultimate ground in the revelation of a mysterious or suprarational God. This radical, but half-hidden, theological foundation underlies the whole of Schmitt’s often difficult and complex oeuvre, rich in historical turns and political convolutions, intentional deceptions and unintentional obfuscations.

In four chapters on morality, politics, revelation, and history, Meier clarifies the difference between political philosophy and Schmitt’s political theology and relates the religious dimension of his thought to his support for National Socialism and his continuing anti-Semitism. New to this edition are two essays that address the recently published correspondences of Schmitt—particularly with Hans Blumberg—and the light it sheds on his conception of political theology.

About this title

About the Author:

Heinrich Meier is director of the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation in Munich, professor of philosophy at the University of Munich, and permanent visiting professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

Review:

“To read this book carefully is most rewarding. With the precision of a detective the author uncovers the extent to which Schmitt’s thought is derived from theological presuppositions.” (Martin Meyer, editor of Neue Zürcher Zeitung)

 Praise for previous editions:

“Meier’s work has forced everyone to take a second look at the assumptions underlying Schmitt’s better-known writings and reconsider some that have been ignored.”—Mark Lilla, New York Review of Books (Mark Lilla New York Review of Books)

“In my opinion—and in view of many private conversations with Carl Schmitt—there are good reasons for adopting Heinrich Meier’s interpretation.” (Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0226518868
• ISBN 13: 9780226518862
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240