Ebook: Carl Schmitt's European Jurisprudence

The Situation of European Jurisprudence was Schmitt’s first independent post-war publication. Schmitt would incorporate it as a critical piece in his 1958 Verfassungsrechtliche Aufsätze (Essays on Constitutionalism). Along with his Weimar publications – Political Theology and the Concept of the Political in particular – The Situation of European Jurisprudence is one of Schmitt’s foundational works with the potential to encourage broad scholarly reflections, well beyond the limited historical context in which it emerged. Schmitt’s essay is no longer confined to a “European” audience but addresses concerns that engage a global readership. Above all, we can glean from the work how Schmitt viewed his role as an intellectual. He saw himself primarily as a jurist and teacher of public law. The Situation of European Jurisprudence also constitutes a necessary introduction to Schmitt’s later works, especially The Nomos of the Earth. The following edition offers the texts from the 1950 edition (with the additions from 1958) in English translation. The translation is a reworked and extended version of Gary L. Ulmen’s published in Telos in 1990. We want to express our gratitude to Telos for allowing us to use Ulmen’s translation and comments.