Passioni e potere nei libri XIV e XIX del De Civitate Dei. Prospettive di ricerca a partire da un’equivoca interpretazione
di Riccardo Ruggero Conti
Abstract: an attempt is made to critically put St. Augustine’s anthropological thought on the basis of an interesting economic-political provocation: in the essay The passions and interests, by Albert O. Hirschman, Augustine is attributed the authorship of an extremely negative conception of human passions. With the help of the important studies conducted by Nello Cipriani, we want to highlight, on the one hand, the methodological error committed by Hirschman and, on the other, to identify the theoretical principles underlying Augustinian anthropology and, specifically, to his conception of the passions. Finally, we will try to identify possible research paths around the theme of power (potestas) in the philosophical reflection of Saint Augustine.
Keywords: Augustine (St.) – anthropology – love – passions – powe
