Manicheismo e violenza. L’itinerario di Augusto Del Noce (1910-1989)

The beginning of Augusto Del Noce’s reflection is characterized by a moral position, by the rejection of violence and the “reign of Force”. This characteristic marks his youthful anti-fascism and, subsequently, his critique of Marxism. The essay examines the connection that Del Noce establishes between Manichaeism and violence, between the metaphysical dualism and the rationalistic justification of the death of the finite, between the pessimism of ancient gnosis and the optimism, after Hegel, of the new gnosis. In the rejection of the Gnostic spirit, understood as the true antagonist of Christianity, Del Noce rediscovers the relevance of Augustine.