BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Grails iCalendar plugin//NONSGML Grails iCalendar plugin//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260604T174909Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20231031T200000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20231031T213000 SUMMARY:The Significance of the Individual and the Concept of the Social in the work of Carl Schmitt UID:20260606T155047Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-bd7db559-gt5qm TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:

The essay The Significance of the Individual was one of Carl Schmitt&rsquo\;s first publications in 1914. It is by no means an easy read. But for those who do pick it up\, this text might seem to reinforce a portrait of Schmitt we had already assumed. For here we find Schmitt the &ldquo\;anti-individualist&rdquo\;\, willing to confer dignity to individuals only on the basis of their functional utility to the constitutional state. This hardly seems the basis for a social contract worthy of the name. In this presentation\, however\, I wish to take another look at this early text. For rather than brute submission of individuals to the state\, leading to social undifferentiation\, Schmitt actually claims to be offering a &ldquo\;metaphysics of the self&rdquo\;\, leading to emancipation and flourishing of individuals within a larger aggregate. Thus\, he writes: &ldquo\;the derivation of the value of the individual from its task [&hellip\;] does not destroy the dignity of the individual. Rather\, it opens up the possibility of a justified dignity in the first place&rdquo\;. By considering this little-known early text\, I will try to show how Schmitt envisages humans transitioning from an atomised and antagonistic state of nature to a form of harmonious social existence\, and how this sets the scene for his later (and better-known) work in political philosophy.

ORGANIZER;CN=Christopher Watkin: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR