Autonomia legislativa e participação igualitária: o Direito Político de Jean-Jacques Rousseau no desenvolvimento do problema teológico-político da modernidade

Abstract

The present thesis purpose is to present the concepts of sovereignty and law in Rousseau s Social contract in a historical and philosophical perspective, depicting the appearance of the philosophical-juridical model of legitimization of political power and the birth (or rebirth, depending on whether it can or can not be regarded as existing during the Roman Empire) of the concept of sovereingty as complete liberty from current laws held by the governor, which should be regarded as subject only to his will moderate by his reason (voluntas ratione regulata). Departing from that historical fact, as well as from the late scholastic philosophy of Scotus whose concept of distinctio formalis ex natura rei allowed the conception of a human essence as being composite of separable layers , and of Ockham whose voluntaristic nominalism turned into a possibility the creation of such an idea as that of general will it is shown how Rousseau follows a path that had been long before traced. It was also tried to show how the nominalist conception of a God as being a hidden God (Deus absconditus) made also viable the justification of a power which is pure will separate from those it rules. Thus, the crisis of hetoronomy, derived from the lack of intelligibility of the transcendence, is followed by a crisis of the heteronomy caused by the unintelligibility of the ruler by the ruled. From that will spring the concept of autonomy of the sovereign people of Rousseau.