The Concept of the Political: Expanded Edition

Name: The Concept of the Political: Expanded Edition
Price: 3.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.7 (263 reviews)
Author: Carl Schmitt

by Carl Schmitt

Nonfiction

4.7 (263)

4.7 stars from 263 reviews

$3.99KU84% off peak

Last checked: Jun 30, 2026

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Price history: $1.99 – $24.70

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Perfect for you if...

You're studying political theory or philosophy and need to understand why Schmitt's friend/enemy distinction keeps surfacing in contemporary debates.
You want to grasp how interwar European thinkers diagnosed the weaknesses that led to totalitarianism, without sanitised summaries.
You read political commentary and keep seeing Schmitt referenced but have never tackled the source text yourself.

Maybe not for you if...

You're looking for a gentle introduction to political ideas. Schmitt writes in dense, layered prose that demands close reading.
You want to avoid engaging with authors whose work was later claimed by fascists. Schmitt's intellectual legacy is contested and uncomfortable.
You prefer books with clear policy prescriptions or practical takeaways. This is pure theory, provocative rather than actionable.

About this book

In this work, legal theorist and political philosopher Carl Schmitt argues that liberalism's basis in individual rights cannot provide reasonable justification for sacrificing oneself for the state. George Schwab's introduction to his translation of the 1932 German edition traces Schmitt's intellectual development through the turbulent period of German history leading to the one-party state. This expanded edition includes analysis by Leo Strauss and a foreword by Tracy B. Strong contextualizing Schmitt's work for contemporary readers. It also contains a translation of Schmitt's 1929 lecture "The Age of Neutralizations and Depoliticizations," which Schmitt himself added to the 1932 edition. The work presents Schmitt's definition of the political as the distinction between friend and enemy, and his understanding of the political nature of man and the state.

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$1.99 – $24.70

Currently on sale at $3.99 — 84% off peak. Price has dropped 20 times over the last 5 years. Goes on sale roughly every 37 days.

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Currently around #53K in the Kindle store — a steady mid-list seller.

Rating & Reviews

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Currently 4.7★ from 263 reviews

Gaining approximately 2 new reviews per month. Rating has climbed from 4.6 to 4.7. Recent readers are rating it higher.

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