Dante in Kelsen

In an early work, Kelsen took Dante Alighieri’s political philosophy to be an anticipation of modernity, appreciating its scientific rather than ideological or political significance. Starting from this observation, the present paper suggests that Kelsen’s Dante also reveals a ‘Dante in Kelsen’. In order to test this hypothesis, the first part of the paper reconstructs Kelsen’s reading of Dante’s political theory, paying particular attention to its Aristotelian tenets – the principium unitatis and the idea of potential intellect – which are of particular interest to Kelsen. The second part identifies some traits of Dante’s thought in the reine Rechtslehre.

Abstract: In un’opera giovanile, Kelsen considera la dottrina politica di Dante Alighieri anticipatrice della modernità, cogliendone il significato scientifico, prima che ideologico o politico. A partire da tale constatazione, questo scritto ipotizza che il ‘Dante di Kelsen’ riveli anche un ‘Dante in Kelsen’. Allo scopo di verificare questa ipotesi, la prima parte del lavoro ricostruisce la lettura kelseniana della teoria politica di Dante, prestando particolare attenzione ai suoi capisaldi aristotelici – il principium unitatis e l’idea di intelletto potenziale – che interessano specialmente Kelsen. La seconda parte identifica alcuni germi danteschi nella reine Rechtslehre. Dante in Kelsen. In an early work, Kelsen took Dante Alighieri’s political philosophy to be an anticipation of modernity, appreciating its scientific rather than ideological or political significance. Starting from this observation, the present paper suggests that Kelsen’s Dante also reveals a ‘Dante in Kelsen’. In order to test this hypothesis, the first part of the paper reconstructs Kelsen’s reading of Dante’s political theory, paying particular attention to its Aristotelian tenets – the principium unitatis and the idea of potential intellect – which are of particular interest to Kelsen. The second part identifies some traits of Dante’s thought in the reine Rechtslehre.