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Ragion Di Stato Romain Descendre View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by HAL-UJM Ragion di Stato Romain Descendre To cite this version: Romain Descendre. Ragion di Stato. Sasso, Gennaro; Inglese, Giorgio. Enciclopedia machi- avelliana, vol. II, Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani, pp.382-384, 2014. <hal-01109113> HAL Id: hal-01109113 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01109113 Submitted on 24 Mar 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destin´eeau d´ep^otet `ala diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publi´esou non, lished or not. The documents may come from ´emanant des ´etablissements d'enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche fran¸caisou ´etrangers,des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou priv´es. Machiavelli_R_382_468:Layout 1 31-07-2014 15:03 Pagina 382 R ragion di Stato. – Com’è noto, la locuzione ra- gloriosa», viene contemplato fra le «cose di stato» l’at- gion di Stato è assente nelle opere di Machiavelli. to di guerra consistente nell’«ammazzare tutti» i ne- Una formulazione affine compare invece – sembra mici, in una prospettiva non diversa da quella secon- per la prima volta – nel Dialogo del reggimento di Fi- do la quale Guicciardini assegnerà – come si è visto – renze ultimato nel 1525 da Francesco Guicciardini: l’atto di «ammazzare» i prigionieri pisani alla «ragio- «ragione e uso degli stati» (a cura di G.M. Anselmi, ne e uso degli stati»: dopo l’evento delle Forche Cau- C. Varotti, 1994, p. 231) vi esprime la ratio dell’azio- dine, il capitano dei Sanniti, Ponzio, avrebbe dovuto ne non «cristiana» degli Stati in tempo di guerra (si «seguire i consigli del padre, il quale voleva che i Ro- tratta, nella fattispecie, della guerra di Firenze con- mani o ei si salvassono liberamente o ei si ammaz- tro Pisa). Questa prima occorrenza testuale si riferi- zassono tutti e che non si pigliasse la via del mezzo sce quindi esclusivamente a un argomento di politi- [...] sempre perniziosa nelle cose di stato» (Discorsi ca estera, alle guerre e alle conquiste territoriali. III xl 9). Peraltro, nella pagina citata della sua Ora- Tale indirizzo viene confermato un quarto di secolo zione, lo stesso Della Casa chiamava a sua volta «cose dopo dalla seconda attestazione nota, nell’Orazione di stato» l’ambito di questa pretestuale «ragion degli di Messer Giovanni Della Casa scritta a Carlo V im- stati» secondo cui sarebbe stato giustificato «occu- peradore intorno alla restituzione della città di Pia- pa[re] le altrui iurisdizioni o possessioni» (in Prose di cenza (1548): G. Della Casa e altri trattatisti cinquecenteschi del E perché alcuni, acciecati nella avarizia e nella cupidi- comportamento, cit., pp. 315-16). La «ragion degli tà loro, affermano che Vostra Maestà non consentirà stati» è quindi inizialmente quella riguardante le «co- mai di lasciar Piacenza, checché disponga sopra ciò la se di stato»: le relazioni politico-militari tra Stati, ragion civile, conciosiaché la ragion degli stati no ’l cioè in particolare, secondo i termini usati da M. nel comporta, dico che questa voce è non solamente poco seguito del passo citato, la «salute della patria» – a cristiana, ma ella è ancora poco umana (in Prose di G. proposito della quale «non [...] debbe cadere alcuna Della Casa e altri trattatisti cinquecenteschi del compor- tamento, a cura di A. Di Benedetto, 1970, p. 315). considerazione né di giusto né d’ingiusto, né di pia- toso né di crudele, né di laudabile né d’ignominioso» Negli anni in cui cominciavano a diffondersi le (Discorsi III xli 5) –, o ancora le promesse «intra i opere di M., già si rifletteva, dunque, sulla «ragion principi» – che spesso «non si debbono osservare» degli stati». Questa, diversamente dalla «ragione civi- (Discorsi III xlii e Principe xviii). le» – cioè dallo ius civile – propria delle «picciole cose Se più avanti nel secolo l’espressione ragion di private», avrebbe costituito un altro tipo di diritto, Stato, al singolare, appariva sporadicamente in alcu- proprio delle cose «grandi» e «publiche», ossia degli ni testi e documenti, essa s’impose solo con la speci- affari esteri e bellici (Giovanni Della Casa, Orazio- fica letteratura che ha origine con Giovanni Botero ne..., cit.). L’espressione serviva quindi a evidenziare (Della ragion di Stato, 1589). Veniva allora a coprire l’estraneità delle relazioni tra gli Stati rispetto al l’intero significato della ‘politica’: secondo la defini- complesso delle norme contemplate dal diritto e dal- zione boteriana, si trattava della «notizia de’ mezzi la morale. E va quindi rilevata l’affinità di tale uso atti a fondare, conservare et ampliare un dominio» con l’identificazione machiavelliana, sotto il nome (p. 1), definizione in cui si perdevano sia il profilo «cose di stato», dell’ambito specifico dei conflitti in- giuridico della «ragion degli stati» di Guicciardini e terstatali e delle guerre, al quale M. accorda un’im- Della Casa, sia la sua stretta pertinenza alla guerra e portanza primaria non solo nel Principe. Così, nel ca- alla conquista. Del resto, i contemporanei più lucidi, pitolo dei Discorsi in cui si spiega che, «ancora che lo come Scipione Ammirato (→) o Traiano Boccalini usare la fraude in ogni azione sia detestabile, nondi- (→), criticarono presto questa identificazione della r. manco nel maneggiare la guerra è cosa laudabile e di S. con la politica nel suo insieme, e scelsero di darle 382 Machiavelli_R_382_468:Layout 1 21-07-2014 12:12 Pagina 383 RAGION DI STATO un significato più strettamente derogatorio. Per Am- «machiavellica ‘ragion di Stato’» rappresenterebbe mirato, la r. di S. non era altro «che contraventione «una delle due forme tipicamente moderne di filoso- di ragione ordinaria per rispetto di pubblico benefi- fia politica», insieme al distinto indirizzo della «legge cio, overo per rispetto di maggiore e più universal pubblica naturale» (1953, trad. it. 1957, p. 190). ragione», cioè un «privilegio» che il principe può at- Più di recente, al contrario, lo stesso nodo di una tribuirsi in quanto «persona publica» (Discorsi sopra r. di S. machiavelliana è stato autorevolmente reciso: Cornelio Tacito, 1594, p. 231). Nella sua satira par- istituire un legame tra M. e le prime teorie della r. di nassiana, Boccalini attribuiva ad Apollo la condanna S. sarebbe possibile solo a patto di «isolare parole e della «speciosa diffinizione» boteriana, «che a tutta la frasi [di M.] fuori dal loro contesto specifico», dando politica si conveniva»: il sovrano del Parnaso coman- dell’opera sua «una lettura inevitabilmente parziale e dava così «che a quel libro (per altro elegantissimo) utilitaria» (Vasoli 1994, p. 49). È infatti necessario fosse levato il titolo di Ragion di Stato, e che li fosse contestare l’attribuzione a M. dell’idea di ragion di posto quello della Politica» (De’ Ragguagli di Parnaso, Stato. Se tale attribuzione pretende di essere un giu- 1614, centuria II, ragg. 87, non paginato). Ma l’iden- dizio storico, si rivela necessariamente anacronistica, tificazione boteriana della r. di S. con l’intera politi- giacché la r. di S. nasce solo dopo Machiavelli. Se ri- ca non aveva impedito, parallelamente, l’associazio- posa invece su una definizione unica della nozione, ne della formula all’opera di Machiavelli. Sulla scia si tratta allora di una visione essenzialistica, tenden- degli antimachiavellismi sviluppatisi nell’ambito te appunto, come faceva Meinecke, a vedere nella r. delle guerre di religione – soprattutto in Francia, pri- di S. una pura «Idea». Conflitto tra ethos e kratos, se- ma da parte dei calvinisti poi dei cattolici ligueurs –, parazione di morale e politica, natura demoniaca del Botero denunciava «l’empietà» di Machiavelli. Dava potere: equiparare la r. di S. al pensiero machiavel- soprattutto avvio all’idea di un M. teorico della r. di liano significa identificare la prima con un’essenza S., o più esattamente fondatore della sua versione atemporale e fissa, e operare sul secondo una ridu- ‘cattiva’: «Machiavelli fonda la Ragione di Stato nel- zione semplicistica. Questa può certo valersi di vari la poca conscienza» (Della ragion di Stato, 1589, lett. passi famosi, presenti in particolare nei capitoli xv e dedicatoria, non paginato). Fu allora e solo allora xviii del Principe: «è necessario, volendosi uno prin- che nacque la stretta associazione tra il Fiorentino e cipe mantenere, imparare a potere essere non buono la ragion di Stato. Pur se contrastata, fin dall’inizio, e usarlo e non usarlo secondo la necessità» (xv 6), o: dalla lettura ‘obliqua’ e ‘repubblicana’ del Principe uno principe e massime uno principe nuovo non può (diffusa proprio da Boccalini, fra gli altri), l’inter- osservare tutte quelle cose per le quali gli uomini sono pretazione boteriana fu seguita non solo da gran par- chiamati buoni, sendo spesso necessitato, per mante- te degli altri autori della letteratura della r. di S., fra nere lo stato, operare contro alla fede, contro alla cari- xviii fine Cinquecento e inizio Seicento, ma anche da una tà, contro alla umanità, contro alla religione ( 14). perdurante opinione vulgata, e perfino da alcune fra Ma si tratta precisamente dell’isolamento di al- le più importanti interpretazioni storiografiche e fi- cune frasi dal loro contesto. losofiche del 20° secolo. D’altronde, il pregevole sforzo mirante a preser- Dopo la Prima guerra mondiale, quasi contem- vare la specificità e la complessità del pensiero ma- poraneamente, tre grandi studiosi collegavano la fi- chiavelliano dai semplicismi di certi ‘manuali’ della gura di M. alla nozione di r. di S., proponendo inter- r. di S. non deve impedire di cogliere i tanti fili che pretazioni che riuscirono particolarmente influenti: collegano i pensatori politici di fine Cinquecento a Friedrich Meinecke (→) presentava il Fiorentino co- Machiavelli.
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