Identity, difference and conflict in the thought of Martin Heidegger, Carl Schmitt and Massimo Cacciari

Abstract

This article aims at interpreting the logical and metaphysical categories of identity and otherness as political constructs. I will start with a discussion of Fichte’s identity principle, then I will proceed to explore Massimo Cacciari’s interpretation, by showing the inherently discursive character of the aforementioned principle. I will then analyze the political meaning of the conceptual couple identity-otherness through the reflections of Martin Heidegger and Carl Schmitt. The political ontology proposed by these authors serves as a theoretical framework for the revision of some fundamental categories of the contemporary politico-philosophical debate. Within this conceptual framework, which must be embedded in the global space we live in, the concepts of ‘enemy’ and ‘conflict’ take on a major role, both from a political and strategic viewpoint.