Millerman Talks #19: Carl Schmitt, The Concept of The Political

A brief introduction to Carl Schmitt's book, The Concept of the Political.

[socialistquickfix]

about to study Schmitt in University and have very much enjoyed reading his political essays… less so his work relating to the Weimar judicial system (dry and context dependent) . But he presents a brilliant and relevant critique of liberalism, aspects of which absolutely apply to the ‘Neoliberal’ US- led world order… and I’m saying this as someone (currently) very much on the far left.

Cheers for this Mr Millerman!

[keepingupwithoctavia]

Thank you for this Michael, very well put together.

[anomie]

Stumbled upon this channel. Content looks promising. More organized than a lot of stuff out there.

[smtpbay]

Thanks for this, just starting reading this book, this is a very helpful intro

[jungwestfale]

A bit late to the party as I only discovered your channel a few weeks ago. Thank you for your insightful and very interesting videos, which are factual and give me insights into topics I wasn't aware of before! As a German right-winger who is very concerned about the future of his country and the European continent, I really advise everyone to look into Carl Schmitt and the intellectuals of the German Conservative Revolution around the Weimar Republic. They outline possible solutions for how we Europeans can reclaim our identity and completely destroy this despicable abomination of liberalism, which is about to destroy all the institutions and systems (ethnocultural identity, freedom, traditions, customs and rites, Christianity, the classical family, the bourgeoisie) that made it possible in the first place. Keep up the good work, I recommend your channel to all my friends & Kameraden!

[Vgallo]

This was fantastic thank you, the perfect introductory to Schmitt, I’m ordering his book right now cuz of this video.

[akiva]

Excellent overview, thank you. I haven't read The Concept of the Political, but I will. When you spoke of different views of Schmitt (Strauss and Derrida) I recalled that Walter Benjamin wrote Schmitt a fan letter in the 1930s - much to the embarrassment of his admirers. (Benjamin despised Heidegger, however.) More recently, I hear that Schmitt's concept of the political is popular with the Chinese leadership - one can see why. Somehow though I can't see any equivalent interest in Schmitt's ideas in the US government.

[Yassinifyoudontnotice]

Thank you, it was so clear and direct .

[josepabloc.r.]

Very good introduction to one of Schmitt's main works. However, I would be rather careful with accepting Strauss' criticism so directly. As you said, Schmitt saw great value in Strauss' comments on this particular book, but his notes do not see this work as a part of Schmitt's whole work. Another contemporary interpreter, though mostly unknown for it, Hugo Ball, commented on Political Theology and anticipated much of what would be said in the Concept of the Political; Schmitt praised Ball as one of the, if not the, best interpreter of his whole thought. As I see it, the Concept of the Political is a work which lets us see the limitations of liberal thought, even down to Hobbes -whom Schmitt later recognized as the one of the great neutralizers-, and works to justify what had been presupposed in Political Theology. Even Strauss notes, in his notes, that the Concept of the Political seems to only set the stage for a true critique of liberalism. I propose that the critique had already been made from the classical point of view in Political Theology.


Political Theology, now justified by the latter work, demonstrates the unbreakable link that unites the Political, and the very possibility of the Political, with the Theological, through the anthropological, the moral and the metaphysical. In this ascent, Schmitt's thought finds itself deep in the classical philosophical tradition; indeed, it almost mirrors the structure of Plato's Republic -as Plato's Republic ends not with political philosophy, as a separate category, but with political theology, as fully encompassing. This, of course, ties into the idea of Schmitt as a Catholic political philosopher.


The comment is, I know, long, and, perhaps, excessive. I've studied Schmitt rigorously for a few years now, and I agree with him on most things; and I believe my interpretation, though seemingly unorthodox, - and certainly unusual- is confirmed by his diaries, later works, and appraisal of Ball's interpretation.

[markriley]

Currently reading this. Than you for further explaining the ideas.

[Renegen]

do more videos on Schmitt; he's the best of the ones that you talk about.

[BeanieQuestOfficial]

About to start reading Schmitt. Thanks, Michael.

[SK-legm]

i think this is my favorite video on carl schmitt. basically the point that “friends and enemies” are the essence of “politics” just like in any playground 🛝 thanks for this!!

[GeorgeDunn]

Schmitt also has a big following in China, where Liu Xiofeng has been one of his chief promoters.

[kylejensen]

Excellent video and incredible channel! Been looking for complex and objective analysis into Bannon, Schmitt, Dugin, Heidegger, etc. so thank you sir!

[Trucco]

Nice overview.
Just two thoughts: another creative interpretation of Schmitt is Ernesto Laclau's theory of populism based on a particular kind of friend/enemy dialectics.
And also, the poet William Blake develops a very interesting solution to the problem of antagonism: instead of the liberal solution of universal peace or mere economic competition, he imagines a sort of antagonism in which each contriary does not strive to negate the other, but accepts the opposition as a necessary stimulus to progression. This is developed throughout Blake's work but particularly in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

[EJARNY]

Is the current tension around globalists versus populism / multipolarity to be understood as a return of the political at the global and local levels ?

[bradsizemore]

Thank you for this. I'm working backwards, so to speak, from Dugin to Schmitt--which he references in The Fourth Political Theory--and I look forward to reading The Concept of the Political and what Leo Strauss has to say about Schmitt.

[EconJohnTutor]

Excellent. As someone who has little background in political science i find these videos extremely useful.

[rod]

Hey Michael.
Nice upload. I'd love to see you do a video explaining the term "liberal/liberalism" in depth. I think this needs to be explained and clarified more since is my understanding that same word means different things depending on the context but also mainly where in the world the term is being used.