Political Theology: Four New Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty by Paul Kahn

Description: Political Theology by Paul Kahn Paul W. Kahn presents political theology as a secular inquiry into ultimate meanings sustaining an American faith in the popular sovereign. He works out this view through an engagement with Carl Schmitts 1922 classic, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Kahn offers a new version of each chapter, which is responsive to the American political imaginary. As in Schmitts work, sovereignty remains central, yet Kahn shows how popular sovereignty creates an ethos of sacrifice in the modern state. Turning to law, Kahn demonstrates how the line between exception and judicial decision is not as sharp as Schmitt may have led us to believe. He reminds readers that American political life begins with the revolutionary willingness to sacrifice and that both sacrifice and law continue to ground the American political imagination. Kahn offers a political theology that has at its center the practice of freedom realized in political decisions, legal judgments, and finally in philosophical inquiry itself. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description In this strikingly original work, Paul W. Kahn rethinks the meaning of political theology. In a text innovative in both form and substance, he describes an American political theology as a secular inquiry into ultimate meanings sustaining our faith in the popular sovereign. Kahn works out his view through an engagement with Carl Schmitts 1922 classic, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. He forces an engagement with Schmitts four chapters, offering a new version of each that is responsive to the American political imaginary. The result is a contemporary political theology. As in Schmitts work, sovereignty remains central, yet Kahn shows how popular sovereignty creates an ethos of sacrifice in the modern state. Turning to law, Kahn demonstrates how the line between exception and judicial decision is not as sharp as Schmitt led us to believe. He reminds readers that American political life begins with the revolutionary willingness to sacrifice and that both sacrifice and law continue to ground the American political imagination. Kahn offers a political theology that has at its center the practice of freedom realized in political decisions, legal judgments, and finally in philosophical inquiry itself. Author Biography Paul W. Kahn is Robert W. Winner Professor of Law and the Humanities and director of the Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for Human Rights at Yale Law School. He is the author of many books, including Putting Liberalism in Its Place; Out of Eden: Adam and Eve and the Problem of Evil and Sacred Violence: Torture, Terror, and Sovereignty. Table of Contents Foreword, by Dick Howard Acknowledgments Introduction: Why Political Theology Again 1. Definition of Sovereignty 2. The Problem of Sovereignty as the Problem of the Legal Form and of the Decision 3. Political Theology 4. On the Counterrevolutionary Philosophy of the State Conclusion: Political Theology and the End of Discourse Notes Index Review Paul W. Kahn is a distinguished political and legal theorist who has written many important books on the American political imagination before. Yet in this case, he directly engages a thinker with whom he has slowly discovered a philosophical kinship, the great German legal and political theorist Carl Schmitt. The encounter is providential. Quite apart from providing another version of Kahns thinking about the nature of American political life, Kahns new book offers an extremely original and insightful proposal about what to take away from Schmitts project of political theology. This is a very attractive and imaginative project, and it is executed with brilliance and provocation. -- Samuel Moyn, Columbia University, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History and coeditor of Democracy Past and Future Magisterial. -- Michael Ignatieff New Republic Kahns work is engaging and prompts further considerations on the sacred nature of politics. Choice Kahns book is fascinating, insightful, and a delight to read -- Peter E. Gordon Immanent Frame In his masterful redefinition of Carl Schmitts work within a democratic context, Kahns book establishes the study of political theology as the key to understanding one of the most difficult yet urgent problems of American political life-the relationship between law and popular will. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the roles of sovereignty and the sacred in the development of our national identity. -- David Pan, University of California, Irvine This is an important book, one that ought to be read by anyone interested in the relevance of Carl Schmitts thought for contemporary democratic theory (and even more so those who believe it has none). -- Adam Thurschwell Law, Culture, and Humanities Political Theology overflows with insights and productive provocations about politics, jurisprudence, and philosophy. -- Mark S. Weiner Telos Kahn...has produced a biblically inspired reading of [Carl] Schmitt. Muslim World Book Review Promotional Paul W. Kahn presents political theology as a secular inquiry into ultimate meanings sustaining an American faith in the popular sovereign. He works out this view through an engagement with Carl Schmitts 1922 classic, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Kahn offers a new version of each chapter, which is responsive to the American political imaginary. As in Schmitts work, sovereignty remains central, yet Kahn shows how popular sovereignty creates an ethos of sacrifice in the modern state. Turning to law, Kahn demonstrates how the line between exception and judicial decision is not as sharp as Schmitt may have led us to believe. He reminds readers that American political life begins with the revolutionary willingness to sacrifice and that both sacrifice and law continue to ground the American political imagination. Kahn offers a political theology that has at its center the practice of freedom realized in political decisions, legal judgments, and finally in philosophical inquiry itself. Review Quote This is an important book, one that ought to be read by anyone interested in the relevance of Carl Schmitts thought for contemporary democratic theory (and even more so those who believe it has none). Promotional "Headline" Paul W. Kahn presents political theology as a secular inquiry into ultimate meanings sustaining an American faith in the popular sovereign. He works out this view through an engagement with Carl Schmitts 1922 classic, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty . Kahn offers a new version of each chapter, which is responsive to the American political imaginary. As in Schmitts work, sovereignty remains central, yet Kahn shows how popular sovereignty creates an ethos of sacrifice in the modern state. Turning to law, Kahn demonstrates how the line between exception and judicial decision is not as sharp as Schmitt may have led us to believe. He reminds readers that American political life begins with the revolutionary willingness to sacrifice and that both sacrifice and law continue to ground the American political imagination. Kahn offers a political theology that has at its center the practice of freedom realized in political decisions, legal judgments, and finally in philosophical inquiry itself. Details ISBN0231153406 Pages 224 Year 2011 ISBN-10 0231153406 ISBN-13 9780231153409 Format Hardcover Media Book Short Title POLITICAL THEOLOGY Language English DEWEY 320.15 Imprint Columbia University Press Subtitle Four New Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Publisher Columbia University Press Author Paul Kahn Affiliation Yale Unversity Position Robert W. Winner Professor of Law and the Humanities Translated from English Publication Date 2011-02-23 UK Release Date 2011-02-23 AU Release Date 2011-02-23 NZ Release Date 2011-02-23 US Release Date 2011-02-23 Series Columbia Studies in Political Thought / Political History Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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