From the Medieval Church as a Mystical Body to the Modern State as a Mystical Person: Ernst Kantorowicz and Carl Schmitt

Bento, António

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Authors

Bento, António

Abstract(s)

This essay compares the treatment made by Carl Schmitt and Ernst Kantorowicz of that juridical fiction which medieval political theology called the «mystical body of Christ». By means of this comparison, this essay discusses and analyses the theological concepts of «bodyfication» and «mediation» as well as the legal concepts of «personification» and «representation». With support from both authors, the historical and political elucidation of these concepts will in turn provide a contextualized clarification of the notion of “Visible Church” allowing further theoretic deepening of the modern debate around the problem of secularization.