Republican Virtue

Abstract

If there is any difference between republicanism and liberalism is in the importance that the first one assigns to the concept of virtue. It is from virtue that the functions of government and the definition of citizen are determined. And it is that concept the one that delimits the notion of freedom or hierarchy that shape the republican notion. Designed as opposed to corruption attributed mainly to the market, modern republicans regained through virtue a classical tradition readapted to the new political conditions. But for that very reason the notion of virtue acquired different meanings from which different regimes were articulated, some even highly repressive. That is why discussing this concept will allow us not only to understand the various forms of republicanism, but also the risks that lead the absolutism of virtue in modern regimes throughout.