Maitre and Schmitt: the Draculas of political philosophy?

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1 Maitre and Schmitt: the Draculas of political philosophy? Jan Verplaetse Ghent University Joseph de Maitre ( ) Carl Schmitt ( )

2 The collapse of liberal democracy? Max Schreck as Nosferatu (1922) Bella Lugosi as Dracula (1932) Gary Oldman as The Count (1992)

3 What is liberal democracy? POLITICAL LIBERALISM liberalism + POPULAR SOVEREIGNITY democracy

4 What is liberal democracy? DEMOCRACY main ideas People have the power Representative democracy Regular elections Right to vote and to be elected Trias politicas (juridical, executive, legislative) Rule of law

5 What is liberal democracy? POLITICAL LIBERALISM liberalism + POPULAR SOVEREIGNITY democracy

6 What is liberal democracy? POLITICAL LIBERALISM Three main ideas Every well-ordered society should guarantee BASIC RIGHTS (equality, liberty) for all citizens COMPREHENSIVE DOCTRINES should accept these BASIC RIGHTS (overlapping consensus) if political active The STATE should abstain from favoring a particular CONCEPTION OF THE GOOD LIFE (as formulated by comprehensive doctrines) John Rawls ( )

7 four lines of critique Joseph de Maitre ( ) Carl Schmitt ( )

8 CRITIQUE 1 Liberal democracy ignores the very nature of politics Carl Schmitt ( )

9 CRITIQUE 1 Liberal democracy ignores the very nature of politics Domain Antithesis Conflict Science True or false Research Economy Profitable or not Competitors Ethics Good or evil Debating adversaries Aesthetics Beautiful or ugly Taste

10 Liberal democracy ignores the very nature of politics Domain Distinction Conflict Science True or false Research Economy Profitable or not Competition Ethics Good or evil Debate Aesthetics Beautiful or ugly Taste Politics Friend or enemy The possibility of war

11 Liberal democracy ignores the very nature of politics It is irrelevant here whether one rejects, accepts, or perhaps finds it an atavistic remnant of barbaric times that nations continue to group together according to friend and enemy, or hopes that the antithesis will one day vanish from the world ( ). The concern is here is neither with abstractions nor with normative ideals, but with inherent reality and the real possibility of such a distinction. For to the enemy concept belongs the ever present possibility of combat ( ) It does not mean competition, nor does it mean pure intellectual controversy ( ) The friend, enemy, and combat concepts receive their real meaning precisely because they refer to the real possibility of physical killing. Carl Schmitt, The concept of the political (1922)

12 Liberal democracy ignores the very nature of politics Sweden, 2016 sacrifice The Netherlands, 2015 combat conflict between friend and enemy Geist gegen Geist, Leben gegen Leben

13 Continuity of friend enemy distinction any domain can be affected by this antithesis 16th century 20th century 21st century CHRISTIAN RELIGION ECONOMICS HUMAN RIGHTS Protestants >< Catholics Communists >< Capitalists Liberals >< Non-liberals

14 POLITICAL LIBERALISM Any well-ordered society should guarantee BASIC RIGHTS (equality, liberty) for any citizen COMPREHENSIVE DOCTRINES should accept these BASIC RIGHTS (overlapping consensus) if political active no overlapping consensus The STATE should abstain from favorising a particular CONCEPTION OF THE GOOD LIFE (as formulated by comprehensive doctrines) John Rawls ( )

15 CRITIQUE 2 Liberal democracy cannot cope with exceptional situations Carl Schmitt ( )

16 What to do in exceptional situations? Military action Bush Hollande War on Terror Guerre contre le Terrorisme

17 What to do exceptional situations? constitutional or legal actions La forme républicaine du Gouvernement ne peut faire l objet d une proposition de révision Constitution of France (1884) Hungary (2009) Belgium (2004)

18 POLITICAL LIBERALISM Any well-ordered society should guarantee BASIC RIGHTS (equality, liberty) for any citizen FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY NON-DISCRIMINATION EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FREEDOM OF EDUCATION FREEDOM OF RELIGION John Rawls ( )

19 CRITIQUE 2 Liberal democracy cannot cope with exceptional situations Non-liberals abuse liberal rights liberals respond with non-liberal means Examples: Examples: 3000 websites support IS in France Public appraisal for terror attacks in Belgium and France Muslim schools fundraised by Wahhabism in the Netherlands 60% of Belgian Turks vote for Erdogans AK-party Switzerland does not accept refugees who refuse hand-shaking France bans the wearing of a veil in schools Loss of nationality for returned IS combattants Belgium punishes Holocaust deniers English delinquents lose right to vote Austria keeps out refugees if state of emergency

20 basic contradiction POLITICAL LIBERALISM liberalism POPULAR SOVEREIGNITY democracy promotes inclusion human rights requires exclusion citizen rights

21 Critique 3 The necessity of orthodoxy Joseph de Maitre ( )

22 The necessity of orthodoxy newcomers declaration (proposal)

23 The necessity of orthodoxy newcomers declaration (proposal)

24 The necessity of orthodoxy newcomers declaration (proposal) We literally ask to subscribe to our values. This document is more than a scrap of paper. One should respect this agreement and we will monitor this. Theo Francken

25 POLITICAL LIBERALISM Three main ideas Any well-ordered society should guarantee BASIC RIGHTS (equality, liberty) for all citizens COMPREHENSIVE DOCTRINES should accept these BASIC RIGHTS (overlapping consensus) if political active The STATE should abstain from favoring a particular CONCEPTION OF THE GOOD LIFE (as formulated by comprehensive doctrines) John Rawls ( ) The STATE defends one comprehensive doctrine

26 Critique 4 The dominant comprehensive doctrine should be based upon non-rational beliefs Joseph de Maitre ( )

27 Critique 4 The dominant comprehensive doctrine should be based upon non-rational beliefs Although rational beliefs promise universal agreement, they mostly bring controversy, even relativism and skepticism. Due to our limited knowledge and permanent fear for insecurity we should endorse non-rational dogma s such as religious ones. Joseph de Maitre ( )

28 Critique 4 The dominant comprehensive doctrine should be based upon non-rational beliefs La raison humaine réduite à ses forces individuelles est parfaitement nulle, non seulement pour la création mais encore pour la conservation de toute association religieuse ou politique, parce qu elle ne produit des disputes. L homme pour se conduire n a pas de besoin des problèmes mais des croyances. Son berceau doit être environné de dogmes Maitre, Etude sur la souveraineté (1870)

29 Critique 4 The dominant comprehensive doctrine should be based upon non-rational beliefs Although rational beliefs promise universal agreement, they mostly bring controversy, even relativism and skepticism. Due to our limited knowledge and permanent fear for insecurity we should endorse non-rational dogma s such as religious ones. Non-rational beliefs stir emotionality and willingness to act whereas rational beliefs only appeal to our intellectual curiosity. Joseph de Maitre ( )

30 Do the critiques of Maitre and Schmitt exceed the fiction of horror? The collapse of liberal democracy? Max Schreck as Nosferatu (1922) Bella Lugosi as Dracula (1932) Gary Oldman as The Count (1992)

31 Previous announcements of the end of liberal democracy

32 POLITICAL LIBERALISM The wars of this century with their extreme violence and increasing destructiveness, culminating in the manic evil of the Holocaust, raise in an acute way the question whether political relations must be governed by power and coercion alone. If a reasonable just society is not possible and people are largely amoral, one may ask with Kant whether it is worthwhile for humans to live on earth? We must start with the assumption that a reasonable just political society is possible, and for it be possible, human beings must have a moral nature, not of course a perfect such nature. John Rawls ( ) John Rawls, Political Liberalism (1995)