With reference to Thomas Mann's Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen the present paper addresses the controversial question: who is the unpolitisch? The topic is developed in three steps. The first one points out the inherent ambiguity of the concept, artistically thought by Mann as a part of a broader cultural issue typifying the German spirit. The second part focuses on the peculiarity of Mann's comprehension of the unpolitisch, both distinguishing it from other concepts with which it is often confused (apolitical, anti-political), and identifying its conceptual structure. This is pinpointed in the simultaneous presence of divergent attitudes and perspectives, making Mann's view of the world always "double", pluralistic, stratified, and multidimensional – intrinsically ambiguous. Finally, the third section parallels Mann's viewpoint with one of the most recent theories about the unpolitisch, that of the Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito. What ensues is a framework accounting for Mann's ambivalent and paradoxical stance in front of the war and the Reich policy of his time, justified in the name of the fight for the "proper" German culture.
