Il nesso intrinseco di etica, religione e storia. La lezione di Ernst Troeltsch

Abstract

Ethics, religion, and history are the three decisive topics of Ernst Troeltsch's work. Rather than thematizing each of them, the article intends to point out the deep and inextricable connections that bind them together. In this way, it will become clear that - from a Troeltschian perspective - the discussion on ethics cannot be carried through to the end without coming to terms with the transformation of modern Christianity and the historicity of values; that the problem of the absoluteness of Christianity is aggravated by the historicist perspective and carries strong moral implications; and that at the basis of the project of a material philosophy of history, there are ethical contents and a religious impulse. In its apparent outdatedness, Troeltsch's framework is extremely stimulating for contemporary speculations.