ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines Carl Schmitt's views on theology and how they configure in his legal and political theory. It explains Schmitt's constitutional theory, which is currently having a revival. It focuses on the presumption that Schmitt's legal, political and ethical thinking is underpinned by the overriding concern to secure the survival of the political community, in the sense of a particular way of life. The book argues that Rentto's 'Carl Schmitt and the Tyranny of Values' is an engagement with Schmitt's post-war tract The Tyranny of Values. It explores Schmitt's works during the early part of the Weimer era was theology and the role of Catholicism. The book illustrates the theme of juridical romanticism through Friedrich Durrenmatt's late novel The Execution of Justice, in which the main protagonist denies the reality of the legal opposition between guilty and innocent approaches.
