The idea of universal knowledge, applicable to political, ethical, theological, and juridical theories is at heart of Antonio Rosmini’s thought. He was a thinker, moved by a deep interest for the whole of reality and he immediately tried to bring into being a plan for complete knowledge, unified by a Christian point of view. Adherence to the Gospel is the thread running through all his work, the mental and existential background which allows one to go beyond the limits of human reason and which permits a structural unity in the entire Encylopaedia of knowledge.
The theoretical research of Rosmini is in line with the purest tradition of philosophical, Christian thought and his contributions are characterised by the capacity to synthesise elements taken from tradition, such as the idea of being characteristic of more genuine scholasticism and illumination which takes its origin from Augustine, compared with authors contemporaneous with him and those more influential in the philosophical debates of his time. Locke, Hobbes and Kant were read, quoted and refuted in the main work of the entire Rosminian corpus, the Nuovo saggio sull’origine delle idee. Knowledge of his contemporaries allowed Rosmini not to fall into either modern mechanism or into empirical scepticism, but to be the promoter of a solid faith in the capacity of reason and its natural bond with the idea of being, of a proposed theory open to transcendence.
The philosophical theory of Rosmini is therefore the entry into the heart of a system which, through ethics, shows us the possibility of freedom and morality. The good of man, seen as setting out from his encounter with being, is the principle concern of Rosmini’s ethical thought and it is the solid point on which to construct not only the value of the nature of person, but on which to judge the nature of the State. His political and juridical theory is in this way fully situated within his ethical research and developed in parallel with the biographical events of the author, who was personally involved in the politics of his time. Balance, a natural endowment of a prudent person like Rosmini, characterised his actions and his thinking. A promoter of the confederation of States under the guidance of the pontiff, Rosmini would indicate in letters and in published works his own suggestion for an harmonic erection of a future Italian state. Prudence would also be the hall-mark of the famous wounds of the Holy Catholic Church, a book which through the unforeseeable play of events would enter the public domain and would be little understood by his contemporaries. This book which presents a declaration of love for the Church, is certainly the most famous writing of Rosmini, even if it does not constitute the heart of his theological studies. With a thorough knowledge of the person of Christ, Rosmini points out in the incarnation of the Redeemer, the decisive event in the destiny for every single person, a unique reality capable of saving man from the crushing contradiction of suffering and evil. Belief in Christ means therefore not only opening up oneself to the path of personal salvation, but to have faith in Him. The evils which, today, afflict the Church are not, therefore permanent, but can be overcome, through acting wisely throughout history and under the guidance of its founder.
