Wer oder was ist ein Feind? Versuch einer Eingrenzung

The essay develops a “pure” concept of enmity. It understands enmity as an absolute increase in human aggression with the simultaneous elimination of any restrictions or rules. The enemy is the ultimate Other to be fought, who is to be destroyed at all costs. The first section assembles the necessary indexical characteristics of such an understanding of the enemy, which is situated within conflict theory and differentiated from other types of conflict in the second section. This is followed in the third section by an excursus on Carl Schmitt’s concepts of the enemy. The essay concludes by discussing possible mitigation and ways out of enmity.