Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Power Itself Is What Must Humble Itself

...We must admit the existence of a law of nature and reason that precedes civil coexistence, and that must be respected by all civil dispositions, and that against such law no civil power can do nor attempt to do anything. If this is fully admitted, sincerely in all its consequences; if the legislative branch submits itself to natural and rational law, which -- like it or not -- overpowers it; then and only then will the legislative branch cease to be despotic irrespective of any form taken by the will of the most, the many, the few, or the one -- as these are nothing but the forms of power, and not power itself. Power itself is what must humble itself before eternal law. Civil power and civil society themselves must recognize that they have no authority whatsoever against the rights that nature assigns to man and consequently all the associations of men independently from their civil association.

[Antonio Rosmini, The Constitution Under Social Justice, Mingardi, tr., Lexington Books (2007) p. 28.]
M ↓   Markdown
?
Anonymous
0 points
9 years ago

Ah, good, this gives me time to get another copy of Villette. I finished it in a late-night spurt that took me to 3am, and then gave it to a friend who was passing through before a transatlantic flight. There certainly is a lot to say about it, starting with the fascinating unreliability of the narrator herself.

B
branemrys
0 points
9 years ago

There are indeed some interesting things about the way the narrator is handled here, along with this omnipresent theme of surveillance.

?
Anonymous
0 points
9 years ago

+JMJ+

I'm still in the first half of Villette myself. It has been an interesting read so far, and I just may get a Reading Diary entry out of it, too!

Enbrethiliel

B
branemrys
0 points
9 years ago

I'll keep any eye out for it!

E
Enbrethiliel
0 points
9 years ago

+JMJ+

By the way, that link about Iceland's faeries is the best thing I've read all week! (Eat your heart out, Charlotte Bronte!) I must confess, though, that the best part was the indignant commenter who took out her frustration at an ostensibly secular government's decision in favour of the supernatural by insulting every other commenter who shared a personal eerie encounter. LOL!

B
branemrys
0 points
9 years ago

It is a bit funny how quickly that escalated.