I agree with Kahn (and with Schmitt) about the fact that political theory should leave room for decision and exception.…
political theory
Political theology and political existentialism
“At stake in our political life,” Paul Kahn observes, “has been not our capacity to be reasonable, but our capacity…
Paul Kahn’s mis-prognosis of America’s social imaginary
As I argued in my previous post, there are indications that Paul Kahn subscribes to Carl Schmitt’s belief in the…
Political theology or political hierophany
In this book, Paul Kahn argues that political theology---as first defined by Schmitt---is not only a “polemical” discourse but also…
The politics of the atonement
To grasp the deep architecture of the political today, therefore, is to venture into the theological domains of Christology and…
The perspective of the common
In liberal theory, essence is privileged over existence, reason over will, and endless discussion over decision. In political theology, things…
Mirror, mirror on the wall
After the manner of psychoanalysis, political theology reflects the larger, darker, contours that liberalism—the discourse of the modern nation-state—fails to…
Pluralizing political theology
My claim and concern is not only that Kahn is captured by Schmitt’s particular view of political theology as a…
Political theology and liberalism
When modern revolutionaries took up the task of translating the felt meaning of political revolution into a constitutional order of…
Asecular revolution
Why have I chosen the term “asecular,” and not, say, “non-secular” or “post-secular,” to describe the power manifested by these…