Political enmity exceeds both private hostility and the question of war

Evidence

The enemy, then, is not the other. And, as Schmitt puts it, “the enemy is not merely any competitor or just any partner of a conflict in general. He is also not the private adversary whom one hates.” Rather, the enemy is ethical life as another life, another “living totality” that ethical life must subsequently posit “as alien and to be negated.” — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 409 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Political moderates think in more complex terms than extremists; Enmity must be analyzed separately from war; Enmity is defined politically before it is acted upon violently — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab: A History of the…, 51 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Schmitt distinguishes the political enemy from private adversaries #corroborates (0.93) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 409
• Ideological struggle requires engaging one’s strongest adversaries, unlike warfare #complicates (0.78)