Books by Heinrich Meier

"In this book Heinrich Meier takes on the question of the meaning of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which has long proven controversial among readers. Meier closely examines the work to find a coherent structure and uncover the meanings in the figure of Zarathustra. By showing the unity in Zarathustra's life and teaching, Meier argues that the hidden architecture of the work reveals the development of self-knowledge for the philosopher. What Is Nietzsche's Zarathustra? A Philosophical Confrontation makes clear in its careful attention to the text that Nietzsche's deepest concern is with understanding himself and the world, rather than with a view of himself as a prophet"--

In 1928, German philosopher Carl Schmitt published "The Concept of the Political." It quickly became one of the most influential works of political philosophy published and remains a classic. In 1932, a young student of political theory named Leo Strauss published a critique of "Concept" and over the next two years, wrote several letters to Schmitt questioning aspects of his argument. Schmitt never answered Strauss's letters, but in his revision of the book, he changed a number of passages in response to Strauss's criticisms without even acknowledging them. In this volume, Heinrich Meier shows what this remarkable "hidden dialogue" reveals about the development of these two seminal thinkers. At the center of the dialogue, Meier argues, was the mutual attempt to define exactly what politics is and how it relates to the philosophical tradition and to modern society. Taking Hobbes's "war of all against all" as his inspiration, Schmitt challenged contemporary liberal society's unwillingness to admit that politics was literally "a matter of life and death." Meier's book insightfully reveals how Strauss's critique forced Schmitt to see that the Hobbesian state was, instead, the very foundation of the liberalism he so despised. "Heinrich Meier's treatment of Schmitt's writings is morally analytical without moralizing, a remarkable feat in view of Schmitt's past. He wishes to understand what Schmitt was after rather than to dismiss him out of hand or bowdlerize his thoughts for contemporary political purposes."--Mark Lilla, "New York"" Review of Books "

Clarifies the difference between political philosophy and Carl Schmitt's political theology and relates the religious dimension of his thought to his support for National Socialism and his continuing anti-Semitism. This title includes essays that address the correspondence of Schmitt, and the light it sheds on his conception of political theology.