“The Concept of the Political” (German: Der Begriff des Politischen) is a political science work by Carl Schmidt published in 1932. On human nature, Schmitt thought to exclude from political theory the goodness of man as liberalism argues. By viewing man as evil, notwithstanding that fact, it is possible to construct a theory of political power and state order. This would develop into the friend/enemy theory, which always assumes the existence of enemies. Like right and wrong in morality, beauty and ugliness in aesthetics, and interests in economics, the concept of the political can be defined by finding the political category in particular. It is the distinction between friend and foe that is the inherent marker to which political actions and motives are reduced.
- Enemy Theory
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The Japanese word (form) friendship (e.g. with a nation), conventionally translated as “comrade,” was used by Schmitt himself to distinguish between the Latin public enemy (hostis) and private enemy (inimicus), and the Greek war enemy (polemios) and private enemy (echthros), and he had in mind not a private friend and foe but a public friend and foe. Schmidt himself made a distinction between the Latin public enemy (hostis) and private enemy (inimicus), and between the Greek war enemy (polemios) and private enemy (echthros), so he had in mind public ally and enemy, not private friend and enemy, and it is for this reason that the translation by Takeshi Gonza is rendered “ally”.
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