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On some dilemmas of the neo-republican theory of freedom

Abstract

In this paper we highlight two of the liberal critiques made of Skinner and Pettit’s neo-republican theory of liberty. We intend to argue that, although these authors contributed decisively in seeking to attribute their own status to republican liberty, the analysis of elements that can make the republican conception of freedom more clearly alternative to liberal still remains insufficient. It would lack an analysis of republican freedom associated with a republican “grammar”, in the sense that they would think the unrestrained freedom of a language of rights and duties that configure the relations between public and private from the logic of the place of the “political.” Moreover, it would be quite problematic to use certain virtues and ideals of public life in a purely instrumental way, without recognizing that certain values are intrinsically important to republican freedom. To retake these questions would be fundamental to rethink the very meaning of republican freedom.

Keywords:
Republicanism; Liberalism; Freedom; Politics

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