The Space of Freedom. Attempts to Escape the Carl Schmitt's Logic of Values

Abstract

The article presents a reflection upon the so called logic of values, described by Carl Schmitt in his famous essay entitled “The Tyranny of Values”. The author begins with an analysis of the way in which the category of “value” has evolved over the last centuries, becoming an increasingly politically neutral notion (at least on the surface), ascribed to the area of economy. Then he describes the vision of universal war of values outlined by Max Weber and adopted by Carl Schmitt, presenting the ways in which both thinkers tried to find a solution to the problem, looking for a space of “freedom from values”. In the end the author refers to  Schmitt’s solution in the context of public debate in modern Poland and the ongoing discussion over changing the constitution of 1997.