Abstract

The concept of the State is expressed more frequently and in more ways in the Irish (1937) constitution than in most European constitutions. The previous 1922 constitution had hardly mentioned the concept at all. Using the tools of conceptual history this article shows how a combination of Catholicism and nationalism led to the inflation of the State in 1937. The article also considers what this inflation of the State tells us about the controversy over the religious origins of the constitution. Rejecting the possibility that it was ‘contaminated’ by the values of the 1930s, the language of statehood is seen rather as an example of how a constitution could harmonize religious with secular values without ‘contaminating’ the secular meaning of the State.

中文翻译：

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天主教与爱尔兰（1937）宪法中的“国家”概念

摘要

与大多数欧洲宪法相比，爱尔兰（1937）宪法更加频繁地，以更多方式表达了国家的概念。先前的1922年宪法几乎没有提及这一概念。本文使用概念历史工具来说明天主教和民族主义的结合如何导致1937年国家的通货膨胀。该文章还考虑了国家通货膨胀告诉我们有关宪法宗教起源的争议。国家地位的语言拒绝了1930年代的价值观“污染”它的可能性，而被看作是宪法如何在不“污染”国家的世俗含义的情况下使宗教与世俗价值观相协调的一个例子。