ABSTRACT
Nomos becomes possible on the side of the amity line, argues Schmitt, because of the way the line allows for an exportation of unconstrained physical conflict and violence to a far off region where it no longer matters. Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone has for a long time been considered a quasi-Platonic reprimand of sovereign action that violates the inviolable laws of God or nature. A reading of the Antigone that maintains that both Antigone and Creon are both “right” and “wrong” appears to endorse the realistic strand of political thought. Liberal democrats have much to learn from Sophocles in the regard, provided they can avoid succumbing to Platonic interpretations of his Antigone. Liberal democracy can learn from Antigone that moral conflict is not just about differences of opinion. The unique theoretical stance of Protagoras in the debates of his time demands a suspension of the standard sophist-philosopher opposition in the nomos-physis debate.
