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Date Permissions Signed
5-14-2008
Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Wise, Christopher, 1961-
Second Advisor
Vulić, Kathryn R., 1972-
Third Advisor
Hanania, Cecile, 1968-
Abstract
This essay argues that Carl Schmitt's political theory in The Concept of the Political functions as a site for exploring the relationship between Christianity and politics in Western history. The author suggests that Schmitt's theory is both informed by and yet inconsistent to orthodox Catholicism through an analysis of the terms public and private as used in Schmitt's writings and in St. Augustine's The City of God. Drawing on Jacques Derrida's consideration in The Gift of Death of the concept of responsibility, the author also posits that Schmitt's political definition, here representative of realist politics, is not only opposed to Christianity but to the history of the ethico-political in the Western. This essay concludes by suggesting renewed critical discussion of the intersection of religion and politics.
Type
Text
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25710/nc1p-qr38
Publisher
Western Washington University
OCLC Number
237232606
Subjects – Names (LCNAF)
Schmitt, Carl, 1888-1985. Begriff des Politischen. English; Schmitt, Carl, 1888-1985--Criticism and interpretation; Derrida, Jacques. Donner la mort. English; Derrida, Jacques--Criticism and interpretation
Subject – LCSH
Religion and politics
Format
application/pdf
Genre/Form
masters theses
Language
English
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Recommended Citation
Durden, William, "From public/private spheres to tout autre est tout autre: christianity and politics in Carl Schmitt's The concept of the political and Jacques Derrida's The gift of death" (2008). WWU Graduate School Collection. 3.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/3