EL FUNDAMENTO DEL PODER CIVIL EN LOS ÚLTIMOS ESCRITOS FILOSÓFICO-POLÍTICOS DE BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS

Resumen

A justification of civil power based only on the consent of peo ple is held as a premise of the arguments presented in defense ofthe native inhabitants ofthe American lands in the last philosophical-political writings of the extensive work of the Dominicanfriar Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566).The research presented below seeks to examine the arguments of Las Casas on the basis of political power, that allowed him to approach and salve the issue on the legitimacy of the settlements made by the subjects of the crown of Spain on the American islands and lands; this is also called "Jndian question". The article is divided into three chapters and there is a section devoted to the conclusions. The first chapter deals with the idea of political power. Las Casas draws from this to establish a fundament of civil power and the form by which thisfundament rests on the consent ofpeople. Three works are examined: "De Thesauris", "Twelve Doubts" and "De Regia Potestate". In the second chapter, the lascasiana position is confronted with what Cardinal Caietano, John Maior and Francisco de Vitoria indicated on the same suhject, to which Las Casas refers. The third chapter is dedicated to the "Jndian question"; it indicates what should be understood by this question and the contribution given by the experience of Father Las Casas to a greater understanding of this issue and how the foundation of civil power indicated by Las Casas would salve it. Final/y we draw conclusions and reflections on the research findings.