critique and deconstruction of the concept of political liberalism and the theory of carl schmitt

carl schmitt (1985-1888), is one of the most controversial legal and political thinkers and one of the leading theorists of the twentieth century. schmitt’s views can be criticized from some aspects: ignoring friends and enemies, reducing human and dominance of an individualistic perspective, de-politicization and de-humanization (loss of identity of the subject due to political suspension, emergence of indifference and meaninglessness and dominance of the spirit of consumerism), the risk of losing political experience, and no attention to ethical nature of political issue. influenced by a realistic approach, schmidt believes that government and politics are inseparably linked. government is like a superpower which has an autonomous nature and makes all political decisions. basically the border between politics and non-politics is determined by government's decision in making a distinction between friend/ enemy. the distinction between friend/ enemy can be considered as the political core of schmidt’s intellectual discourse. distinction between friend/ enemy as a quasi-transcendental theme specifies political theme, based on which existence of a real enemy and coexistence with other political entities will be assumed. the enemy here is not derived from personal hatred or enmity, but is a general sense (our enemies) and refers to a community of people fighting against another group, merely a public enemy and an enemy in the most obvious sense in relation to other people. this paper aims to present the criticisms directed to politics from a liberal perspective, an understanding of the concept of political issue and its limitations in political analysis and understanding fundamental aspects.