Suarez and Rosmini: Law, State, Conscience

Abstract

The paper focuses on the key influence of Francisco Suárez on Antonio Rosmini’s philosophy of law; it establishes a dialogue between them, in order to highlight a shared conceptual framework rooted in the rationalist tradition of the Second Scholastic Movement. In particular, it emphasizes their convergence on the primacy of the human person, the ethical foundations of law, and the intrinsic connection between freedom and property. In his Filosofia del diritto, Rosmini quotes extensively from Suárez’s masterly treatise, De legibus ac Deo legislatore. These references are not casual, but express a systematic engagement with Suarez’s theory of law, authority, and natural law, especially in relation to the foundation of legal normativity and the moral architecture of property. It is precisely in his more organic legal writings that Suárez’s scholastic legacy emerges most clearly, as an essential theoretical reference point for Rosmini. Suárez’s influence, however, is not isolated. Rosmini also engages with other prominent exponents of late scholasticism, particularly the Jesuits Leonardus Lessius (1554–1623) and Juan de Lugo (1583–1660), whom he himself specifically cites. Their works on moral theology and jurisprudence helped clarify some central themes of Rosmini’s thought. As Gian Piero Soliani recalled in his presentation in Trento in 2023, Rosmini directly refers to the famous treatises of Lessius and de Lugo, recognizing their fundamental role in the development of natural law and justice even before Grotius.