Political Theology between Reason and Will
Contemporary practitioners of political theology make use of Carl Schmitt’s account of sovereignty to criticize liberal political theory. But whereas Schmitt focused on “states of exception,” the new decisionism holds that decision-making is a quotidian feature of jurisprudence: the interpretation o...
| Published in: | Journal of law, religion and state |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2018
|
| In: |
Journal of law, religion and state
|
| Further subjects: | B
Political Theology
decisionism
philosophy of law
the self
voluntarism
Paul W. Kahn
Carl Schmitt
Ludwig Wittgenstein
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Contemporary practitioners of political theology make use of Carl Schmitt’s account of sovereignty to criticize liberal political theory. But whereas Schmitt focused on “states of exception,” the new decisionism holds that decision-making is a quotidian feature of jurisprudence: the interpretation of law depends upon judicial decisions that serve to impose meaning on otherwise semantically indeterminate norms. Ironically, it is possible to detect in the contemporary decisionist critique of liberal theory, with its focus on law’s meaning, a liberalizing tendency: by insisting on the ubiquity of decision-making, the exception is made to seem unexceptional. In this way, Schmitt is tamed, and sovereignty is diffused into the mundane world of administrative governance. I want to resist this normalizing account on philosophical grounds: if one is to appreciate the exceptional character of the decision, it is important to retain some background of regularity with which it can be contrasted. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2212-4810 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of law, religion and state
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22124810-00601003 |