Theoretical vs. Real Aliens

Needless to say, The Concept of the Political is a bit more dry than the previous two books we read. However, there are some important things to take away from Carl Schmitt's political/social theories. In particular, I frequently found ideas that readily connected with Ender's Game. Much of Schmitt's piece is based on the creation of the political through the friend-enemy dichotomy. This obviously has implications for much of science fiction, especially that which involves alien life. In most cases, the aliens inevitably take the part of the enemy. Schmitt even describes the political enemy as "the other, the stranger," and says that he is "existentially something different and alien" (p27). In science fiction, as in reality, this other-ness more often than not leads to conflict because, as in Ender's Game, groups that see each other as alien don't understand each other and can't communicate.

Another connection that The Concept of the Political makes with Ender's Game is Schmitt's idea that the state as a political entity has the right to call on it's members to die and kill members of the enemy in the name of the state. In his words, the state has "the right to demand from its own members the readiness to die and unhesitatingly to kill enemies" when it needs to maintain "tranquility, security, and order" (p46). In relation to Ender's Game, we see this same idea in the fact that the military has the right to "requisition" a human being if they think he or she will be useful in the fight against the buggers, the ultimate enemy. The military in this novel justifies the requisition of children just as it justifies a preemptive strike. I believe that Schmitt would agree with this, in that he writes, "The justification of war does not reside in its being fought for ideals or norms of justice, but in its being fought against a real enemy" (p49). It seems that Schmitt would see the war against the buggers as justified, given the limited information available to the humans. I look forward to hearing how the rest of the class related this reading to science fiction themes.