@article{eprints199,
            year = {2001},
           title = {Natural Right, Providence, and Order: Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Bastiat's Laissez-Faire},
          number = {2/3},
           pages = {311--336},
          volume = {11},
          author = {Raimondo Cubeddu and Antonio Masala},
       publisher = {Berkeley Electronic Press},
         journal = {Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines},
            note = {Berkeley Electronic Press \& IES-Europe {\copyright} 2001},
             url = {http://eprints.imtlucca.it/199/},
        abstract = {The paper suggests that Bastiat?s theory of interests, harmony, and the State is rooted in a particular conception of Natural Right, in which the Lockeans and thomistic streams of thought meet. But it also suggests that Bastiat?s interpretation of the role that Providence plays in human events is not able to give a sustainable theory of liberal order. The paper also considers the criticisms to Bastiat?s economic and political theory coming from exponents of classical liberalism, from the Austrians, and from Catholic thinkers of that time, such as L. Taparelli d?Azeglio and M. Liberatore.

The conclusion is that although the economic theory of Bastiat is by now obsolete from the conceptual point of view, his political theory and his criticism of the state do remain extraordinarily topical.

Cet article sugg{\`e}re que les th{\'e}ories des int{\'e}r{\^e}ts, de l?harmonie et de l?Etat de Bastiat sont ancr{\'e}es dans une conception particuli{\`e}re du droit naturel au confluent des pens{\'e}es lock{\'e}enne et thomiste. Cependant, il sugg{\`e}re aussi que l?interpr{\'e}tation que donne Bastiat du r{\^o}le de la Providence dans les affaires humaines ne d{\'e}bouche pas sur une th{\'e}orie recevable de l?ordre lib{\'e}ral. L?article examine aussi les critiques qu?adressent les partisans du lib{\'e}ralisme classique-tels que les {\'e}conomistes autrichiens, les penseurs catholiques de l?{\'e}poque comme L. Taparelli d?Azeglio et M. Liberatore-{\`a} l?{\'e}gard des th{\'e}ories {\'e}conomiques et politiques de Bastiat. L?article conclut que le caract{\`e}re obsol{\`e}te des th{\'e}ories de Bastiat d?un point de vue conceptuel ne remet pas en cause la singuli{\`e}re actualit{\'e} de sa th{\'e}orie politique et de sa critique de l?Etat.},
        keywords = {Bastiat, Natural Law, Order}
}