La socievolezza umana nel Defensor Pacis di Marsilio da Padova

Abstract

In his scholarly output spanning over thirty

years Cary Nederman has characterised the Defensor

pacis as a work deeply indebted to Cicero, especially with

regard to human sociability and the origin of society. This

is in spite of the numerous references to Aristotle that

Marsilius inserts in the chapters dealing with this question.

This paper examines the arguments and conclusions

advanced by Nederman, thus offering a detailed analysis

of the four chapters of the Defensor pacis directly or indirectly

related to the question of human sociability (chapters

3, 4 and 6 of Dictio I, and chapter 22 of Dictio II). It

emerges from this inquiry that Marsilius drew heavily on

Aristotle and on the medieval commentators on the Politics.