The history of the Federal Republic has a retrospective intellectual justification. This is evident in a civic attitude that identified with the West German state in its principles. Philosophically, this position was primarily articulated by a circle around Joachim Ritter, which included Hermann Lübbe, Odo Marquard, and also Robert Spaemann. Their philosophy of civility draws from a liberal-turned conservative anti-democratic German tradition of figures like Carl Schmitt and Arnold Gehlen. Jens Hacke reconstructs this political philosophy, whose fundamental lines have been shaped both in the processing of its traditions and in engagement with the critical social theory of Jürgen Habermas.