Tradition, Decision and Moderation: Critics of the Three Ways of Access a Juan Donoso Cortés's Thought

Abstract

This article reflects on the thinking of Juan Donoso Cortés, starting by a discussion of the main interpretive currents of the author. These currents will be classified according to the answer each of them gives to two classic problems of Donoso´s historiography: the question of the conversion, which inquires about the relation between the writings of the young Donoso Cortés and those of the mature, and, on the other hand, the question concerning the place of tradition in his work. Three basic currents will thus be delineated: the Traditionalist, the Schmittian or Decisionist, and the Moderate. Then these different currents will be cross-examined, in order to give account of their mutual criticisms. In the final comments, the paper will seek to estimate the strengths and weaknesses of each position, in order to provide an alternative interpretation of the author’s thought, defined in terms of “moral decisionism”.