Humanism and Republicanism

Abstract Since the time of Cicero in ancient Rome to the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment and into the era of modern and contemporary theories, many republican philosophers were or are also humanists. Given the vagueness of the term ‘humanism’ and the fact that we can barely discern a coherent ‘humanist movement’, this chapter addresses the question of what humanism can contribute to republicanism not by tracing out a full historical account but rather by exploring the lasting impressions that humanism can make on republican thought. This approach has the effect of reintroducing positive freedom into the theory of republicanism. The contribution of humanism to republicanism consists in demonstrating that republican freedom is not only negative freedom and that positive freedom is not only the freedom of the old. By giving clear contours to the concept of human dignity, humanists can establish it as the basis of an individual positive freedom to participate in the shaping of the republic. Despite this grounding of republican freedom on human dignity, the contribution of freedom to the common good and the rule of law is not neglected, but made compatible with modern individualism in the first place. At the same time, in humanism, the ancient, Renaissance, continental, and English traditions of republicanism are brought together again more closely.