La “giusta via di mezzo” di Pareto

In 2016 The mind and society by Vilfredo Pareto turned 100 years. This event provides an opportunity to once again reflect on one of Pareto’s main books. This article focuses on the concept of social system’s equilibrium. As argued by many authors, this concept places itself at the centre of Pareto’s work. Furthermore, this paper aims to demonstrate that the author considers the happy medium as the only way capable of ensuring social cohesion. Firstly, the article deals with the book’s framework and methodology and seeks to pinpoint the binary logic used by the author throughout the text. Secondly, it argues that Pareto suggests the happy medium be followed in various arenas, namely the social, economic, and political arenas. Finally, the article aims to show that Pareto was faithful to the happy medium from a political point of view as well by combining an authoritarian approach with a liberal one.