Carl Schmitt, Political Theology, and Eschatology

Political Theology is the rubric under which Carl Schmitt constructed his critique of liberalism and modern political culture. This critique remains influential even given the taint attached to Schmitt's name by his Nazi involvement. Schmitt's presupposition was that political concepts are secularized theological concepts, and his "political theology of the mortal god" was an attempt to formulate a political theological reason that could think through the paradox of sovereignty. This attempt founders on his inadequate understanding of the theological concept of time as eschatological. Reflecting on his failure provides a way to think anew about time as well as politics.