Supreme Principles and Societas Hominum: The Problem of Power in Alberico Gentili’s Reflection

Abstract

In this essay the author focuses on some problematic questions of the political reflection of Alberico Gentili (1552-1608). He was an Italian jurist and he was well-known for his contribution to modern international law. Gentili’s juridical and internationalist theory, consecrated to the individuation of a system of laws to rule the relations between sovereign actors, is based on a concept of sovereignty inspired by Bodin’s doctrine but it also elaborates classical cosmopolitanism ideal of an universal societas hominum. However, these models seem difficult to conciliate. How can the interests of the State be harmonized with the natural principles of justice innate to human reason? This contradiction emerges widely in Gentili’s writings, witnessing the critical aspects of the relation between ethics and political power in the Modern age.