Friend or Enemy? Classical and Modern Sources of the Politics 3800-PWZP26-S
The seminar is devoted to the question of the nature of political community: is it constituted by bonds or by division? The starting point is the classical tradition, in which community is built “from within” through civic friendship, agreement, and cooperation. In this perspective (Plato, Aristotle, Cicero), the bond has an ethical character and constitutes a condition for the stability of political institutions.
Modernity introduces a different view: community emerges as a response to conflict and threat (Machiavelli, Hobbes), and in Carl Schmitt’s thought the friend–enemy distinction becomes the defining criterion of the political. The seminar focuses on this dispute, analyzing both its classical sources and its contemporary reinterpretations.
Subsequent parts of the course examine critiques of Schmitt (Strauss, Kelsen, Arendt, Derrida), attempts to transform antagonism into agonism (Mouffe), and deliberative models of democracy (Habermas). The final part of the seminar addresses contemporary issues such as political polarization, social capital, and the possibility of building a community without an enemy.
The following topics will be discussed during the course:
community as bond and community as division
civic friendship and political agreement
conflict as a source of the political
the friend–enemy distinction in Schmitt
liberal and deliberative models of democracy
agonism and contemporary theories of conflict
polarization and the crisis of political community
Course coordinators
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
knowledge of major concepts of the political in classical and modern traditions
understanding of the tension between the logic of bonds and the logic of conflict
knowledge of Carl Schmitt’s theory and its main critiques
Skills:
analysis and interpretation of philosophical texts
formulation of research problems and philosophical arguments
preparation and presentation of a seminar paper
Social competences:
readiness to engage in substantive discussion
ability to critically and respectfully engage with opposing viewpoints
awareness of the relevance of philosophical debates for public life
Assessment criteria
active participation and preparation for discussions
seminar presentation or preparation of a set of problem questions
final grade based on quality of argumentation, familiarity with literature, and independence of analysis
Permissible number of excused absences: 2
Bibliography
Agamben G., Homo sacer. Suwerenna władza i nagie życie, Warsaw 2008.
Arendt H., Kondycja ludzka, Warsaw 2010.
Arendt H., Korzenie totalitaryzmu, Warsaw 2014.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Warsaw 2009.
Aristotle, Politics, Warsaw 2004.
Cicero, On Friendship, Kraków 2022.
Derrida J., “Politics of Friendship”, American Imago 1993.
Habermas J., “Three Normative Models of Democracy”.
Hobbes T., Leviathan, Warsaw 2009.
Kant I., “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Perspective”.
Locke J., Two Treatises of Government, Warsaw 1992.
Machiavelli N., Discourses on Livy, Warsaw 2014.
Mouffe Ch., The Political, Warsaw 2008.
Nogal A., Civic Friendship (seminar materials).
Putnam R. D., Bowling Alone, Warsaw 2008.
Rousseau J.-J., The Social Contract, Warsaw 2012.
Schmitt C., Political Theology and Other Writings, Warsaw 2012.
Schmitt C., The Nomos of the Earth, Warsaw 2019.
Schmitt C., Theory of the Partisan, Warsaw 2016.
Strauss L., “Notes on Carl Schmitt’s ‘Concept of the Political’”.
Tischner J., The Ethics of Solidarity, Kraków 1981.
Schwarzenbach S. A., On Civic Friendship, New York 2009.