Derrida, Reader of Schmitt: The Concept of the Political and the Specter of the Enemy

Abstract

The theme of this article is Jacques Derrida's reading of Carl Schmitt's concept of the political. From the notion of hantise, the tradition of ontologie is characterized as the search for a presence as a foundation or origin. However, the spectral logic insinuates itself into reality, for deferment that is never fully present. Therefore, the original would itself be late, since it begins after the apparition of the spectrum, that is, waiting for its reappearance. In Derrida’s reading, the concept of the political is related to the attempt to exclude the indeterminacy of this presence-absence through enmity or war. Thus, the existence of the political order would refer to the enemy's spectral presence as a real possibility of giving death, establishing an identity between politician and enemy, as well as the experience of the impossibility of order.