Carl Schmitt’s Morphology: From Political Theology to Aesthetics

Francesca Monateri

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to analyze Carl Schmitt’s morphology starting with his studies on Roman Catholicism as a perfect political form. The possibility of a morphology of Schmitt’s theories of law and the State is often ignored, but Walter Benjamin and Jacob Taubes grasped the centrality of the form in Schmittian philosophy within its political engagement. My thesis is that they suggested an alternative idea of form without settling for a formal dissolution. To deconstruct the formal structure of Western power it is no more satisfactory. The power of gestalt-zerstörend - as Taubes defined it - must be complemented by a forming power, like a narrative capable of addressing the alluring side of political theology.

Carl Schmitt’s Morphology: From Political Theology to Aesthetics

From the book Bilddenken und Morphologie

Abstract

Chapters in this book (24)