Concept of the Political (eBook)

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 intellectual journey through the turbulent period of German history leading to the Hitlerian one-party state. In addition to analysis by Leo Strauss and a foreword by Tracy B. Strong placing Schmitt s work into contemporary context, this expanded edition also includes a translation of Schmitt s 1929 lecture The Age of Neutralizations and Depoliticizations, which the author himself added to the 1932 edition of the book. An essential update on a modern classic, The Concept of the Political, Expanded Edition belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in political theory or philosophy.