Shadows and Lights of the Exercise of Citizenship in Francisco Suárez. Common Good, Freedom and Responsibility
Abstract
In this paper it is argued that the political philosophy of Francisco Suárez can help us to think about the meaning of the responsible exercise of citizenship. It does not imply that the Doctor Eximius was a committed democrat, in fact he defended absolutism, but we can build on his philosophy to think about how to improve democratic life today. Starting from the assumption that the current crisis of democracy is a crisis of citizenship, it is shown that for Suárez the citizenship virtue is based on a triangular relationship of common good, freedom and responsibility. Freedom is inextricably connected to authority, but to a sense of authority which moves from heteronomy to autonomy, thanks to a conception of law “as responsible and creative force in the heart of man” under the guidance of the common good.
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