Equal Liberty

* Book: Equal Liberty: Essay on Human Nature. Costanzo Preve. Petite Plaisance, 2025.

Italian original: L'eguale libertà. Saggio sulla natura umana.

• Book: L'eguale libertà. Saggio sulla natura umana (Equal Liberty: Essay on Human Nature) is a 2025 work by Italian philosopher Costanzo Preve, published by Petite Plaisance. In this book, Preve argues for a fundamental reorientation of communist theory from an economic-political framework to an anthropological one. He contends that anti-communist thought has historically relied on a pessimistic view of a corrupted human nature to deny the possibility of social alternatives. Preve critiques 20th-century communism for accepting this premise and instead focusing on historical progress. The book calls for a return to Marx's investigation of human nature, proposing communism as a "community of individualities endowed with equal liberty" and analyzing the historical dissolution of the figure of the "comrade".

Details by DeepSeek:

Core Argument: Preve argues for a radical inversion in the philosophical strategy of communism. Instead of focusing primarily on economics or the mode of production, he contends that the central question is anthropological: it must be rooted in a theory of human nature.

Context and Target: Preve identifies a long-standing obstacle to communist thought: the assertion that human nature is irredeemably corrupted. This argument, which he calls the "principal support" for anti-communist positions, draws on ideas of original sin and humanity's inherent weakness for possessive and selfish passions to claim that any alternative to capitalism is impossible.

Critique of 20th-Century Communism: Preve argues that 20th-century communism made a strategic error by accepting this premise. Instead of confronting the question of human nature, it focused its hopes on progress in history or scientific knowledge, effectively conceding the anthropological terrain to its opponents.

The Anthropological Turn: Preve's solution is to place human nature at the center of communist theory. He investigates the notion of human nature as found in Marx and within the Marxist tradition, positioning the dynamics of the mode of production as a subordinate element to the essential matrix of human nature.

The Goal: A Community of Equal Liberty: The work analyzes the historical dialectic of the dissolution of the figure of the "comrade." In its place, Preve proposes a conception of communism as a "community of individualities endowed with equal liberty". This reframes the political project around the creation of a social form that enables both genuine individuality and substantive equality.