Socievoli ma non troppo: la riflessione sulla genesi della comunità politica fra fine Duecento e inizio Trecento

This paper aims at re-evaluating the actual impact had on political reflection in the late 13th and early 14th century by the re-entry into circulation of the Aristotelian idea about man’s disposition to associate. In particular, an attempt is made to clarify in what sense some of the main political theorists of that time understand the natural sociability of human beings and what they refer to when they speak of it. In order to achieve this aim, the paper focuses on the figures of Thomas Aquinas, John of Paris and Marsilius of Padua. By juxtaposing them, a different picture emerges of the evolution of political thought in that decisive half-century, within which the strong awareness of the tensions and disintegrative drives that characterise every group of men constituted in community persists.