Between authority, dichotomy, and freedom: the private-law evolution of public law

This article examines the dynamics of public law, addressing the evolution of the concepts of authority and freedom within the context of modernity. By exploring the historical roots of administrative law as a positive legal discipline, it highlights the influence of rationalism and modern subjectivity on the formation of the dichotomies between the public and private spheres. It argues that public law was structured according to a dichotomous logic that privileges individualism and autonomy, shaped by scientific rationality and the centrality of the individual subject. In analysing the origins of the Modern State and the construction of legal institutions, the text proposes reflection on the need to rethink public law from a perspective that moves beyond traditional dichotomies and incorporates a view that values the interdependencies and complexities of contemporary social relations.