Carl Schmitt and Authoritarian Liberalism

Strong State, Free Economy

Author(s) Renato Cristi

Language: English

Genre(s): Politics

Series: Political Philosophy Now

  • February 1998 · 192 pages ·216x138mm

  • · Paperback - 9780708314418

About The Book

Within Germany, Carl Schmitt's status as a political thinker is on a par with Machiavelli and Hobbes. With the rise in neo-conservatism and authoritarian liberalism in less developed countries such as Chile and Singapore, Schmitt's theories will become of incredible importance. Carl Schmitt had close links with the Weimar Republic and its successor the Nazi Third Reich. His political theories give a valuable insight into the nature of Conservatism. As with all the titles in the Political Philosophy Now Series, the author takes previous political thought and applies to the modern day and extrapolates possibilities for the future. Renato Christi, in his final chapter, also compares Schmitt's theories with those of Hobbes, Hegel and Hayek.

Endorsements

'Cristi's interpretation...represents the best discussion of Schmitt's political theory in the English-speaking world to date...Contrary to the prevalent tendancy to impute a substantive and unbroken continuity in Schmitt's work, always anti-liberal, reactionary and anti-democrat, Cristi brilliantly illuminates its development, changes and shifting allegiances revealing its consistent animating tensions.' Philosophy and Social Criticism.

About the Author(s)

Author(s): Renato Cristi

Renato Cristi is Professor of Philosophy at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has published books on Hegel and Schmitt.

Read more