Jenaro Abasolo: Liberalism and the Social Rule of Law

Abstract

This article shows how the concern of the Chilean philosopher Jenaro Abasolo for social justice leads him to propose a theory of justice that anticipates the form of the Social Rule of Law. For its political proposal, maintaining the essential features of liberalism, connects in a particular way the social aims with the politicians, until defending the necessity of establishing laws that regulate the economic sphere and the freedom of industry. As a result, Abasolo's critique of the liberal state forms a series of liberal publicists in the second half of the nineteenth century, with José V. Lastarria being the most prominent and serving as a contrast. And this criticism also acquires a renewed importance in the current debate that tries to determine the form of State and, therefore, which theory of justice, is more admissible for democratic societies that not only aspire to pluralism but also to Social justice