Power and Law in Medieval Political Theology

Abstract

In the early medieval philosophy, theologians used to characterise the almighty power of god as divided into two different dimensions: potentia absoluta and potentia ordinata. If the first refers to god’s “absolute power” and gives reason to his capacity of making miracles and creating life, the second reflects the god’s “ordinary” power, that is, the usual divine presence which occurs in everyday existence. Starting from this particular background and showing the deep influences of this subtle distinction, the author provides with a general re-reading of the West metaphysics, unfolding the various connections that link together the concepts of “power”, “law” and “exception”.