Glossarium

Abstract

Carl Schmitt kept diaries throughout his life, several of which he specifically selected for academic publication. These are the recordings made in the early years after World War II, when Schmitt lost all his positions. After his release from the prison he returned to his home in small town of Plettenberg, where he remained until his death. Schmitt ordered these diaries to be published only after his death, because, even several decades after the war, they remained ideologically dangerous. In this issue we continue to publish fragments of translation of the “Glossarium”. In the fragments prepared for present publication, Schmitt argues on several important topics. First, he discusses the position of intellectual in modern society. Schmitt argues with Julien Benda, the author of a book about the betrayal of intellectuals (Trahision des clercs). Schmitt also reflects on his own political fortunes. After the war, many colleagues accused him of collaboration with the Nazis which seemed unfair to him. The figure of the conservative Catholic poet of the middle 19th century Annette von Droste-Hulshoff appears in his writings. Schmitt also writes about Leon Bloy, a Catholic thinker whose writings preoccupied his attention, especially Bloy’s famous diaries. Schmitt criticized the newer editions of his works. Schmitt agrees with conception of institute of Maurice Hauriou. Finally, he addresses a number of fundamental facts of political theology in connection to the basic distinctions drawn in his Concept of the Political, especially the distinction between friend and foe.