In defence of a free and virtuous society

If the genesis of liberal democracies and the republican art of self-government is the recognition of human dignity expressed in the characteristics of equality, freedom and responsibility, we cannot imagine republican democracies themselves without these qualities. The second president of the United States of America, John Adams, on 11 October 1789, speaking of democracy in America, its assumptions and its future, wondered how people unable to control their instincts in private life could be able to govern themselves in public life? and concluded that without the virtue of its citizens, a republic could not long survive.

Abela's book fits into this groove of thought and takes us on a fascinating journey towards the practical realisation of the perspective outlined by Novak. Abela carries the burden of Novak's theory of moral ecology on his shoulders and translates it into daily practice, into habits that develop a strength, sometimes latent, but present in each person's experience.

Super-habits go beyond the contingency of the everyday: brushing teeth, making the bed are habits of the everyday. Abela's super-habits, on the other hand, train our will to go beyond good manners, to transcend good manners, to educate - in the sense of liberate - the latent force that makes us fully human.

At this point, once trained, such attitudes become part of our life and we no longer even notice that we are practising them. We do not become heroes, we do not need to make superhuman efforts to cultivate our civic life through virtue. None of us is a phenomenon simply because we walk, yet if we stopped doing it for a while, we would need rehabilitation, because we would no longer be able to. Super-habits are exactly those habits that educate us - in the sense that they liberate us - to live according to virtue.

This is not a mere theoretical proposal, but a slow and gradual journey that helps one discover, or perhaps rediscover, one's vocation: in fact, educating to the virtues means putting the person in a position to inhabit himself in the world.

The heart of Abela's book is that each person is capable of training a series of mental habits: self-control, justice, forgiveness, courage, order, hope, and many others, the exercise of which can be learned and strengthened like any muscle in our body. It is the habits, not yet internalised, that allow you to manage your thoughts, emotions, actions and feelings, to the point that if you learn them and they mature in you, says Abela, 'instead of crawling all your life, you will be able to walk, and then you will also be able to run'.

This is an extremely important issue that affects the future of our societies, hinged on liberal democracy, which intend to continue their journey on the terrain of democracy and liberalism without falling victim to the increasingly aggressive illiberal democracies, but without renouncing strong ideals and resigning themselves to cold passions.

As Tocqueville, our own Luigi Einaudi and the rich tradition of classical liberalism have taught us, the virtues practised by homo democraticus are the ordinary virtues of ordinary men: habits learned, practised, trained and internalised to the point of acting virtuously without even realising it. And therein lies the secret of a free and virtuous society.

*Full Professor of History of Political Doctrines Department of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences

Molise University (Campobasso)