Why a political philosophy? Historical elements for an answer

Abstract

Classical political philosophy is an ethics of the polis; a union of ethics and politics. It had been revived in the medieval idea of the “respublica christiana”. Modern political philosophy presents itself as a response to the interna l contradictions of such a notion, and in reference to the concrete problems which have arisen in modern history. Through a lengthy process, the political culture of the constitutional democratic state was created. This forms the basis of a genuine political ethos which is founded upon the political concept of the Common Good as peace, liberty, and justice - an ethos that abandons the model of the ethics of the polis and constitutes the theme of political philosophy. It is understood as the fundamental political ethics, not to be substituted by doctrines on Natural Law, and is presupposed and ever implicit in the social doctrine of the Church.