Norberto Bobbio Quotes
Norberto Bobbio was an Italian legal and political philosopher and one of the principal voices of postwar Italian liberal democracy. After clandestine resistance to Fascism in his youth, he held the chair of philosophy of law and later of political philosophy at Turin for nearly five decades and was appointed senator for life in 1984. The quotes below are attributed to Norberto Bobbio, organized by topic.
Browse Norberto Bobbio by topic
Norberto Bobbio on Freedom
-
Attributed to Norberto Bobbio:
“The rights of the citizen are the brakes upon the power of the state.”
Norberto Bobbio on Justice
-
“The Future of Democracy: A Defence Of The Rules Of The Game (1984), Ch. 7: The Rule of Men or the Rule of Law”
If, then, at the end of this analysis, I am asked to take off the mortar-board of the academic and put on the hat of someone deeply involved in the political developments of the age he lives in, I have no hesitation in saying that my preference is for the rule of law rather than of men. The rule of law is now celebrating its final triumph as the basis of the democratic system. What is democracy ot
Norberto Bobbio on Politics
-
Attributed to Norberto Bobbio:
“Democracy is government by discussion under conditions of equality.”
-
Attributed to Norberto Bobbio:
“Right and left remain meaningful so long as inequality remains.”
-
Attributed to Norberto Bobbio:
“A theory of democracy is also a theory of its imperfections.”
Norberto Bobbio on Time
-
“Lewis has written that "man makes history." Althusser unleashes a pamphlet at him maintaining that such is not the case: "Ce sont les masses qui font I'histoire." I challenge anyone to find a social scientist outside the Marxist camp who can seriously pose a problem of this type.”
In: Telos Nr. 35-38, (1978), p. 11
Norberto Bobbio on Virtue
-
Attributed to Norberto Bobbio:
“Tolerance is the respect that liberty owes to its own conditions.”