Rosmini’s Idea of Progress. Reflections with a Glance towards Contemporary Europe

Abstract

The text addresses the central issues of Antonio Rosmini's philosophy of history. Rosmini sees the driving force of history in the human tendency to “contentment”; this tendency, however, is understood in its necessary relationship with the bonum commune. Furthermore, the particular purposes of the different historical phases and the risks associated with the epochs of crisis and rapid transformation (such as moral and intellectual disorientation and possible social decline) are considered by Rosmini in constant reference to the compensatory and ordering action of the divine Providence. According to the philosopher, Providence works through, rather than behind, the concrete geopolitical conditions and the various sociological and cultural factors occurring in history.