I fondamenti etici della politica e del diritto: motivi di attualità per personalismo rosminiano

This essay analyzes the ontological and ethical foundation of Antonio Rosmini’s political-juridical perspective, highlighting the constitutive value of the concept of person within the Rosminian philosophical system. In his thought it is central the definition of human person as “subsistent right and very essence of right.” Rosmini’s view of “person”, seen as an inviolable end which can never be reduced to the status of “means”, leads spontaneously to what today is seen as paramount in human existence, that is, the question of human rights. In this paper, I underline the reasons for the actuality of this philosophy based on the concepts of person and liberty: in particular, I put in evidence as some great philosophers of the 20th century, like Michele Federico Sciacca, Giuseppe Capograssi and Augusto Del Noce, and in more recent years scholars like Dario Antiseri, Rocco Pezzimenti e Michele Nicoletti, elaborated the fundamental ideas of Rosmini on the ontological dignity of the human person. Departing from Rosmini they criticized the totalitarianism and despotism in all their expressions, and they proposed a political liberalism founded on the respect of the constitutive liberties of person, and attentive to the great theme of social justice.