Criticón (Jul 2013)

Juan de Mariana, la antropología política del agustinismo católico y la razón de Estado

  • Harald E. Braun

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4000/criticon.340
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 118
pp. 99 – 112

Abstract

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This article explores the place and importance of Catholic Augustinian political anthropology in the work of the Jesuit Juan de Mariana (1535-1624). Mariana, arguably one of the most original early modern Spanish political thinkers, is able to adapt and absorb doctrines of reason of state into Catholic political theology and ethics. Catholic Augustinian conceptions of human nature in particular drive and direct the way in which he develops realist and pragmatic modes of political thought and action. Through the prism of Juan de Mariana, then, this article seeks to differentiate our understanding of the genesis, contexts and scope of reason of state and its relationship to moral theology in early modern Spain and Europe. It is also a contribution to the continuing debate about the genesis and characteristics of European modernity, secular theories of the state, and rationalist modes of political thought.

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