War in the Time of Love: Reflection on the Paper by Svyatoslav Kaspe in the Light of the Distinction between Private and Public Enmity in the Teachings of Carl Schmitt

Abstract

The article develops the discussion initiated by professor S. I. Kaspe in his 2023 paper Love in the Time of War. Contra autonomy of the Political. The text formulates Carl Schmitt’s supposed response to S. I. Kaspe’s proposal to de-autonomize the political by creating an opportunity for the partial subordination of political relations to the Christian commandment, indicating the necessity of love for one’s enemies (Mt 5:44). It is noted that, according to Schmitt, the considered prescription is valid only for private enmity, representing a different continuum in relation to the public enmity that realizes political antagonism. Love directed towards a private enemy is entirely acceptable to Schmitt. In the conditions of external tension, it can contribute to the temporary oblivion of interpersonal conflicts, thus strengthening political unity, and is fully consistent with the logic of Schmitt’s teaching. Carl Schmitt’s reference to Plato’s description of stasis (civil war, sedition) as an illustration of the private enmity is analyzed in the text in the light of its possible contradictions. It is argued that none of the forms of stasis reveals confrontation with inimicus, the private enemy. It is questioned whether love is admissible under the conditions of a full-fledged foreign war (in Schmitt’s understanding) as the apogee of political enmity. The answer takes the characteristics of various forms of war into account. A number of contemporary military trends is considered as significantly narrowing the space for love.