Norberto Bobbio’s political philosophy, between theory and ideology

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article explores Norberto Bobbio’s thought regarding the complex relationship between theory and ideology, and the possible mutual influences between them. The essay first clarifies what Bobbio means by ‘theory’ and what connection he establishes between theory and political philosophy. The first section reconstructs Bobbio’s distinction between four ways of conceiving political philosophy, and his preference for the formal value-free approach of what he defines as a ‘general theory of politics’. The second section focuses on whether a general theory of politics, seeking to clarify the basic concepts of political language and provide purely descriptive definitions, is in fact possible. The third section deals with this same question starting from a debate between Bobbio, Passerin d’Entreves and Scarpelli sparked in 1954 by Felix Oppenheim’s book Dimensions of Freedom. Likewise, Bobbio’s last course in political philosophy on the topic of ‘revolution’ offers insights into his ‘empirical-analytical’ method, in which conceptual analysis is deeply related to the observation of reality and the study of history (fourth section). To conclude, the last paragraph returns to the complex relationship between theory and ideology in Bobbio’s thought, by highlighting elements of continuity and discontinuity, with the tradition of analytical philosophy.