Sich (nicht) geschlagen geben. Unabdingbare Ansprüche, Kompromisse und das Interesse an einer agonistischen Lebensform: Zu Chantal Mouffes Begriff des Politischen

This article discusses Chantal Mouffe’s concept of the political that allegedly departs fun-damentally from the so called “cosmopolitical illusion”, i. e. the illusion that liberal-democratic forms of life could overcome antagonistic conflicts once and for all. Mouffe’s diametrically opposed idea of a “conflictual consensus” is critically examined particularly for the claim that it promises to sublate contradictory claims in agonistic forms of conflict. A critical evaluation of this thesis refers to the question whether such a consensus unconditionally requires the renunciation of any unalienable claim.