The Concept of the Human in the Works of Carl Schmitt

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit der politischen Anthropologie Carl Schmitts. Sie zeigt mit Blick auf sein ganzes Werk, dass seine Anthropologie keineswegs rein negativ zu verstehen ist. Vielmehr liegt der Gehalt und das Potenzial seiner Anthropologie in einem umfassenden Begriff des Menschlichen (the human), der weniger damit zu tun hat, ob der Mensch guter oder böser Natur ist, und vielmehr den Gegenstand seines politischen und philosophischen Denkens überhaupt bildet. Dieses Argument wird auf drei Hauptfeldern entfaltet: Schmitts Rationalitätstheorie, seinem Begriff des Politischen und seiner Geschichtsphilosophie, die dem dreiteiligen Aufbau der Arbeit zugrunde liegen. Durch eine Analyse seiner Rationalitätstheorie wird der Begriff des Menschlichen überhaupt erst sichtbar. Schmitts Begriff des Menschlichen hängt eng mit seiner Auffassung einer besonders menschlichen, römisch-katholischen Rationalität zusammen. Diese besonders menschliche Rationalität zeichnet sich durch ihren stetigen Bezug zum Sozialen sowie ihren vermittelnden Charakter aus. Zwei Eigenschaften, die sie ebenfalls von der herrschenden, ökonomisch-technischen Rationalität unterscheidet. Anhand dieses Rationalitätsbegriffs wird im zweiten Kapitel Schmitts Werk Der Begriff des Politischen untersucht. Dabei wird deutlich, dass sein "anthropologisches Bekenntnis" im 7. Kapitel vom Begriff des Politischen weniger die Funktion einer Aussage über den Menschen als solchen hat, sondern vielmehr dazu dient, das Politische als einen Bereich der menschlichen Freiheit zu etablieren. Die Erkenntnis dieser Freiheit sowie das Phänomen des Politischen sind der menschlichen Rationalität zugänglich, weil nur diese die politische (Selbst-)Behauptung des Menschen zulässt, ohne sie auf ein tieferliegendes Phänomen hinter der Sphäre der menschlichen Prätentionen zurückführen zu wollen. Das dritte Kapitel widmet sich Schmitts Geschichtsphilosophie und zeigt, dass diese auf zweierlei Art und Weise vom Begriff des Menschlichen strukturiert wird. Zuerst handelt es sich bei Schmitts Interpretation der neueren europäischen Geschichte (ab dem 16. Jh.) stets um ein (tragisches) Narrativ der menschlichen Rationalität. In einem zweiten Schritt wird Schmitts Begriff des Katechons untersucht. Indem seine vereinzelten Aussagen zu dieser Figur, die die Aufgabe hat, das jüngste Gericht fernzuhalten, in Zusammenhang mit seinen Überlegungen zum Begriff der Kreatur gesetzt werden, zeigt sich, dass seine Geschichtsphilosophie stets die Intention hat, dem freien und menschlichen Handeln einen Platz zwischen Determinismus und Sinnlosigkeit einzuräumen. Die Arbeit schließt mit einer Zusammenfassung des Begriffs des Menschlichen sowie Überlegungen zum kulturellen Kontext des Begriffs ab.This study is devoted to the political anthropology of Carl Schmitt (1888-1985). It argues with regard to his entire oeuvre, that his anthropology can in no way be understood in a purely negative manner. Rather, the meaning and potential of his anthropology lies in a far broader concept of the human as such. This concept of the human, not the human being, exceeds the question of whether the human being is by nature good or bad. It constitutes the central object of Schmitt's political and philosophical thought and is the attempt to identify and describe a particularly human sphere of existence. This argument is unfolded across three main fields of his thought: his theory of rationality, his concept of the political and his philosophy of history, from which follows the three-part structure of this study. The first part of this study makes visible the concept of the human by examining Schmitt's theory of rationality. By looking more closely at his work Roman Catholicism and Political Form, it becomes clear that Schmitt sees in the Roman Catholic Church a particularly human form of rationality. By using the term of the human to describe a form of rationality, Schmitt makes clear that the human as such is, for him, not merely a question of the individual human being. This particularly human, Roman-Catholic rationality distinguishes itself through its constant social orientation and its mediating character from the dominant economic-technical rationality. Having worked out a relationship between Schmitt's concept of rationality and his concept of the human, the second part of this study revisits the "anthropological confession" in chapter seven of The Concept of the Political in order to show that Schmitt's insistence upon the human being's evil or problematic nature is less a statement about the individual human being and much more what Schmitt sees as the necessary presupposition for the theoretical establishment of a sphere of free human action. Both the recognition of this freedom as well as the phenomenon of the political are only accessible for the particularly human rationality because it is the only form of rationality that can accept the idea of political activity in the name of freedom, justice and the good without reducing them to some non-political phenomenon that supposedly lies behind the political. The third chapter focuses on Schmitt's philosophy of history and the two central roles played in it by the concept of the human. The first of these is the fact that Schmitt's interpretation of modern European history is always actually the tragic narrative of human rationality. In order to preserve something of this human rationality, Schmitt formulated an eschatological philosophy of history based on the biblical figure of the katechon (2 Thess.), a numinous force charged with holding back the Last Judgment. By examining his theory of the katechon in its relationship to the 'creature' as well as Schmitts ever-recurrent Roman fixation and christology, Schmitt's philosophy of history reveals itself as the attempt to create a place for free human action, between determinism and meaninglessness. The study closes with considerations concerning the cultural context of the concept of the human in the early 20th century

(Acetyl­acetonato-κ2 O,O′)(2-bromo-4-chloro-6-{[2-(dimethyl­amino)­ethyl­imino]­meth­yl}phenolato-κ3 N,N′,O)oxidovanadium(IV)

The VIV atom in the title complex, [V(C11H13BrClN2O)(C5H7O2)O], is six-coordinated by one phenolate O, one imino N and one amino N atom of the tridentate anionic Schiff base ligand, by one oxide O atom, and by two O atoms of an acetyl­acetonate anion, forming a distorted cis-VN2O4 octa­hedral coordination geometry. The deviation of the V atom from the plane defined by the three donor atoms of the Schiff base ligand and one O atom of the acetyl­acetone ligand towards the oxide O atom is 0.256 (2) Å

Essential Role of the Zinc Transporter ZIP9/SLC39A9 in Regulating the Activations of Akt and Erk in B-Cell Receptor Signaling Pathway in DT40 Cells

The essential trace element zinc is important for all living organisms. Zinc functions not only as a nutritional factor, but also as a second messenger. However, the effects of intracellular zinc on the B cell-receptor (BCR) signaling pathway remain poorly understood. Here, we present data indicating that the increase in intracellular zinc level induced by ZIP9/SLC39A9 (a ZIP Zrt-/Irt-like protein) plays an important role in the activation of Akt and Erk in response to BCR activation. In DT40 cells, the enhancement of Akt and Erk phosphorylation following BCR activation requires intracellular zinc. To clarify this event, we used chicken ZnT5/6/7-gene-triple-knockout DT40 (TKO) cells and chicken Zip9-knockout DT40 (cZip9KO) cells. The levels of Akt and ERK phosphorylation significantly decreased in cZip9KO cells. In addition, the enzymatic activity of protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) increased in cZip9KO cells. These biochemical events were restored by overexpressing the human Zip9 (hZip9) gene. Moreover, we found that the increase in intracellular zinc level depends on the expression of ZIP9. This observation is in agreement with the increased levels of Akt and Erk phosphorylation and the inhibition of total PTPase activity. We concluded that ZIP9 regulates cytosolic zinc level, resulting in the enhancement of Akt and Erk phosphorylation. Our observations provide new mechanistic insights into the BCR signaling pathway underlying the regulation of intracellular zinc level by ZIP9 in response to the BCR activation

Changes in expression and activity of the secretory pathway Ca2+ATPase 1 (SPCA1) in A7r5 vascular smooth muscle cells cultured at different glucose concentrations

Diabetes mellitus-related vascular disease is often associated with both a dysregulation of Ca$^{2+}$ homoeostasis and enhanced secretory activity in VSMCs (vascular smooth muscle cells). Here, we employ a commonly used rat cell line for VSMCs (A7r5 cells) to investigate the effects of glucose on the expression and activity of the SPCA1 (secretory pathway Ca$^{2+}$-ATPase 1; also known as ATP2C1), which is a P-type Ca$^{2+}$ pump located in the Golgi apparatus that plays a key role in the secretory pathway. Our results show that mRNA expression levels of SPCA1 are significantly increased in A7r5 cells cultured in high glucose (25.0 mM)-supplemented medium compared with normal glucose (5.55 mM)-supplemented medium. SPCA1 protein expression levels and thapsigargin-insensitive Ca$^{2+}$-dependent ATPase activity were also consistent with a higher than normal expression level of SPCA1 in high-glucose-cultured A7r5 cells. Analysis of AVP (arginine-vasopressin)-induced cytosolic Ca$^{2+}$ transients in A7r5 cells (after pre-treatment with thapsigargin) showed faster rise and decay phases in cells grown in high glucose medium compared with cells grown in normal glucose medium, supporting the observation of increased SPCA expression/activity. The significant levels of both Ca$^{2+}$-ATPase activity and AVP-induced Ca$^{2+}$ transients, in the presence of thapsigargin, indicate that SPCA must play a significant role in Ca$^{2+}$ uptake within VSMCs. We therefore propose that, if such increases in SPCA expression and activity also occur in primary VSMCs, this may play a substantial role in the aetiology of diabetes mellitus-associated vascular disease, due to alterations in Ca$^{2+}$ homoeostasis within the Golgi apparatus