“All genuine political theories presuppose man to be evil.”

—  Carl Schmitt, book The Concept of the Political

The Concept of the Political (1927)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "All genuine political theories presuppose man to be evil." by Carl Schmitt?
Carl Schmitt photo
Carl Schmitt36
German jurist, political theorist and professor of law 1888–1985

Related quotes

Carl Schmitt photo

“What remains is the remarkable and, for many, certainly disquieting diagnosis that all genuine political theories presuppose man to be evil, i. e., by no means an unproblematic but a dangerous and dynamic being.”

Carl Schmitt book The Concept of the Political

The Concept of the Political (1927)

Walter Raleigh photo

“All histories do shew, and wise politicians do hold it necessary that, for the well-governing of every Commonweal, it behoveth man to presuppose that all men are evil, and will declare themselves so to be when occasion is offered.”

Walter Raleigh (1554–1618) English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer

Source: The Cabinet Council (published 1658), Chapter 25

Carl Schmitt photo

“The concept of the state presupposes the concept of the political.”

Carl Schmitt book The Concept of the Political

The Concept of the Political (1927)

Karl Kraus photo

“The superman is a premature ideal, one that presupposes a man.”

Karl Kraus (1874–1936) Czech playwright and publicist

Half-Truths and One-And-A-Half Truths (1976)

Ottobah Cugoano photo

“Slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, ... and contrary to all the genuine principles of Christianity, and yet carried on by men denominated thereby.”

Ottobah Cugoano (1757–1791) African abolitionist in England

Source: Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (1787), p. 24

Sheldon Pollock photo

“Moving beyond orientalism finally presupposes moving beyond the culture of domination and the politics of coercion that have nurtured orientalism in all its varieties, and been nurtured by it in turn.”

Sheldon Pollock (1948) American linguist

(Pollock 1993:117), quoted in Elst, Koenraad (2018). Still no trace of an Aryan invasion: A collection on Indo-European origins.

Andrei Sakharov photo

“We regard as "scientific" a method based on deep analysis of facts, theories, and views, presupposing unprejudiced, unfearing open discussion and conclusions.”

Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989) Soviet nuclear physicist and human rights activist

Progress, Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom (1968)
Context: We regard as "scientific" a method based on deep analysis of facts, theories, and views, presupposing unprejudiced, unfearing open discussion and conclusions. The complexity and diversity of all the phenomena of modern life, the great possibilities and dangers linked with the scientific-technical revolution and with a number of social tendencies demand precisely such an approach, as has been acknowledged in a number of official statements.

Arthur James Balfour photo

“Our whole political machinery presupposes a people so fundamentally at one that they can safely afford to bicker.”

Arthur James Balfour (1848–1930) British Conservative politician and statesman

Introduction to Walter Bagehot's The English Constitution (London: Oxford University Press, 1928), p. xxiv.

“That worst evil of long dictatorships: the loss of all political experience.”

James Cameron (journalist) (1911–1985) British journalist

The News Chronicle, March 3, 1954.

Joseph Goebbels photo

“We are against the political bourgeoisie, and for genuine nationalism!”

Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister

1930s, Die verfluchten Hakenkreuzler. Etwas zum Nachdenken (1932)

Related topics