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Title: Esquisse d'une philosophie politique de la Première Guerre mondiale
Subtitle: Schmitt, Clausewitz et le problème de l'hostilité
Author(s): JOLLY, Edouard
Journal: Tijdschrift voor Filosofie
Volume: 79    Issue: 4   Date: 2017   
Pages: 747-774
DOI: 10.2143/TVF.79.4.3284700

Abstract :
This article aims to provide a sketch for a philosophical understanding of the notion of ‘hostility’ in the writings of Carl Schmitt, especially in connection with the emergence of the so-called ‘total war’ of the First World War. The objective is to understand central philosophical questions raised by the functioning of hostility between war and politics. What does it mean to define war as a phenomenon of hostility? Does it remain possible to refuse the logic of a policy based on the difference between friend and foe? Clausewitz in particular described how war should be perceived as a rational activity based on a political purpose. His confrontation with Schmitt’s arguments within the context of the First World War is meant to show how hostility is a key issue for political philosophy.

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