Book: Groundless Existence: The Political Ontology of Carl Schmitt

Just published: Michael Marder, "Groundless Existence: The Political Ontology of Carl Schmitt" (Continuum, July 2010):

www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=133275

Publisher's description: "Groundless Existence discusses the implicit phenomenological and existential foundations of Schmitt's political philosophy. The book's unique contribution lies in its claim that Schmitt decisively breaks with the metaphysical tradition and predicates the political on the 'groundless' categories of existence, including risk, decision, and agonism. This argument is substantiated by both tacit and explicit existentialist and phenomenological underpinnings of Schmitt's work, discussed here for the first time in book form. The book provides an insight into the implications of Schmitt's thought reconceptualized in the light of contemporary political developments. An essential text for anyone interested in the political theory of Carl Schmitt, it offers a new reading of Schmitt's work against the double background of phenomenology and existentialism."

The book contains a section on "Political Theology as a Hermeneutic Endeavor".

Endorsement: "No one has written more lucidly or insightfully on Schmitt's philosophical standing and on the fundamental problems of the political. Groundless Existence is the new gold standard in Schmitt scholarship and an indispensable point of reference in political philosophy." (Russell Berman, Stanford)

Michael Marder is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Duquesne University, USA, and a Research Fellow in the Centre of Philosophy at the University of Lisbon, Portugal.