From Top to Bottom: Carl Schmitt and the Theological-political Representation of Values

Abstract

If political theology is one of the central themes running through the work of Carl Schmitt, the problem of values —in spite of the few studies devoted to the subject— is a significant matter in Schmitt’s thinking. In consequence, the purpose of this paper is to show the link between the two, namely between Carl Schmitt’s political theology and his reflections on values. To this end, his early texts are examined here, which will allow us to elucidate the relationship between theology and politics within modernity and then to critique the philosophy of values developed in The Tyranny of Values. From that forked path, the continuity which exists between political theology and values will be analysed and found to be located to a large extent in The Value of the State and the Significance of the Individual