Glossarium

Abstract

This article is another fragment of Carl Schmitt’s diaries written in January 1948. Main topics of Schmitt’s records are the following: (1) The complexity of his personal situation. He mentions the troubles that have plagued him since the second half of the 1930s. The pressure from the Nazi regime was replaced by imprisonment and accusations by the victorious Allies. (2) The significance of the early modern philosophy. In addition to Hobbes whom he mentions very often, Schmitt considers the moral and political writings of Francis Bacon who influenced Hobbes so much. (3) Schmitt considers German idealism paying attention to Hegel’s remark that even the most evil in humans as superior to nature. He demonstrates the connection between this question and the later writings of Max Weber. An assumption is made about the future catastrophic effects of the collapse of this philosophy. (4) S. Butler’s dystopia “Erewhon” is addressed, the questions of technology and technocracy are formulated.