A Tale of Two Paines

Abstract

On the occasion of the almost contemporary publication of two interesting books on Thomas Paine, SCIENZA & POLITICA has addressed the two authors – Matteo Battistini and Maurizio Griffo – with some questions about the different approaches of their works. The result is a long-distance dialogue, which explores not only the significance of the American revolutionary and constitutional events, but also the influence that the English legacy and the French revolutionary experience have exercised on the American political thinker. A Tale of Two Paines handles the problem of its attribution either to liberalism or to democratic radicalism; it also faces the preoccupation with the defence of liberty in the historical reconstruction of the State in the light of the affirmation of the sovereignty of society.