Ethos delle virtù civili

According to a certain strand of liberalism, when and if virtue retains some public role, it is reduced to legality, to compliance with the contractual arrangement. Now, the essay argues that western societies are gripped by several problems that are also dependent on a insufficient refinement of rules and procedures, but that can never seriously be resized without the promotion and cultivation of the virtues, especially justice, which aims to allocate to each the good that belongs to him and to pursue the common good. The essay therefore argues the following thesis: not virtuous subject is unreliable as a partner of social collaboration; excess of standards and controls produces an increase of transgressions; the virtues are the foundation of the social structure, especially the affectionate solicitude; the liberal State needs pre-political virtuous resources (see the famous Böckenförde’s dicktum); laws, culture and good/bad behaviors have a reciprocal influence; civic virtues are crucial.