The Scenario of Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology as a Restoration Discourse of the Political

Abstract

The present paper aims to understand the state in a political theology key, as formulated in Carl Schmitt’s writings. In other words, through “political theology” it is not emphasised a certain political doctrine, but it rather asserts a way of thinking the political through theology. This scenario is brought to the theorist’s attention because of the modernisation process intensively developed in the 20th century. Moreover, the author argues that the crisis of the state is a theological-political problem since the modern theory of the state is a legitimate successor of theology The German author’s plan is to provide an alternative to the European secularised modernity, since he identifies that the political organisation of a society (always) reflects its religious beliefs. In this way, the study attempts to approach the tension between theology and politics, surpassing the historical-institutional experience, by proposing the understanding of some schmittian metaphysical subtleties that reveal the relationship between theology and politics as a mutual determination. Therefore, using the method of correspondence between theological and political concepts, the paper focuses on Schmitt’s arguments when claiming that the state has lost its monopoly over the political, so that the reaffirmation of the political theology becomes the natural and legitimate scenario.