LA BOÉTIE SECONDO LA BOÉTIE. A proposito di una recente edizione del "Discorso sulla servitù volontaria"

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze some tendencies in the interpretation of the Discourse on Voluntary Servitude of Étienne de La Boétie with a critical approach, taking into consideration a recent publication of the discourse. The paper focuses on the recovery of the full organic theory of La Boétie and of some of the text’s key-concepts, such as “human nature” and “habit”. It opposes the idea of a concrete political militancy of the text, arguing that the work of La Boétie is, as Montaigne indicates, an intellectual exercise on human nature and liberty.