Benedetto Croce (; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952)
was an Italian
idealist
In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to id ...
philosopher, historian, and politician, who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history,
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
and
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
. In most regards, Croce was a
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
, although he opposed ''
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
'',
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
, and had considerable influence on other Italian intellectuals, including both
Marxist Antonio Gramsci and
Italian Fascist Giovanni Gentile
Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...
.
[
Croce was the president of ]PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
, the worldwide writers' association, from 1949 until 1952. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature sixteen times.
He is also noted for his "major contributions to the rebirth of Italian democracy."
Biography
Croce was born in Pescasseroli
Pescasseroli (, Marsicano: '', '') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, in Southern Abruzzo, central Italy.
A summer and winter resort, it is also the location of the Abruzzo National Park, nestled in the heart of the Monti Ma ...
in the Abruzzo region of Italy. His family was influential and wealthy, and he was raised in a very strict Catholic environment. Around the age of 16, he quit Catholicism and developed a personal philosophy of spiritual life, in which religion cannot be anything but a historical institution where the creative strength of mankind can be expressed. He kept this philosophy for the rest of his life.
In 1883, an earthquake occurred in the village of Casamicciola on the island of Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...
near Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, where he was on holiday with his family, destroying the home they lived in. His mother, father, and only sister were all killed, while he was buried for a long time and barely survived. After the earthquake he inherited his family's fortune and—much like Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work '' The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...
—was able to live the rest of his life in relative leisure, devoting a great deal of time to philosophy as an independent intellectual writing from his palazzo
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
in Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
(Ryn, 2000:xi).
He studied law, but never graduated, at the University of Naples
The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...
, while reading extensively on historical materialism
Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...
. His ideas were publicized at the University of Rome towards the end of the 1890s by Professor Antonio Labriola
Antonio Labriola (; 2 July 1843 – 12 February 1904) was an Italian Marxist theoretician and philosopher. Although an academic philosopher and never an active member of any Marxist political party, his thought exerted influence on many pol ...
. Croce was well acquainted with and sympathetic to the developments in European socialist philosophy exemplified by August Bebel, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels ( ,["Engels"](_blank)
'' Karl Kautsky
Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels i ...
, Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue (; 15 January 1842 – 25 November 1911) was a Cuban- Haitian revolutionary Marxist socialist, political writer, economist, journalist, literary critic, and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law having married his second dau ...
, Wilhelm Liebknecht
Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist and one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).Filippo Turati
Filippo Turati (; 26 November 1857 – 29 March 1932) was an Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and socialist politician.
Early life
Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and participa ...
.
Influenced by Neapolitan-born Gianbattista Vico
Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationalism ...
's thoughts about art and history, he began studying philosophy in 1893. Croce also purchased the house in which Vico had lived. His friend, the philosopher Giovanni Gentile
Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...
, encouraged him to read Hegel. Croce's famous commentary on Hegel, ''What is Living and What is Dead of the Philosophy of Hegel'', was published in 1907.
Political involvement
As his fame increased, Croce was persuaded, against his initial wishes, to become involved in politics. In 1910, he was appointed to the Italian Senate, a lifelong position (Ryn, 2000:xi). He was an open critic of Italy's participation in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, feeling that it was a suicidal trade war. Although this made him initially unpopular, his reputation was restored after the war. In 1919, he supported the government of Francesco Saverio Nitti
Francesco Saverio Vincenzo de Paolo Nitti (19 July 1868 – 20 February 1953) was an Italian economist and political figure. A Radical, he served as Prime Minister of Italy between 1919 and 1920.
According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' ("T ...
while also expressing his admiration for the nascent Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
and the German Social Democrats
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
. He was Minister of Public Education between 1920 and 1921 for the 5th and last government headed by Giovanni Giolitti. Benito Mussolini assumed power slightly more than a year after Croce's exit from the government; Mussolini's first Minister of Public Education was Giovanni Gentile, an independent who later became a fascist and with whom Croce had earlier cooperated in a philosophical polemic
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...
against positivism. Gentile remained minister for only a year but managed to begin a comprehensive reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
of Italian education that was based partly on Croce's earlier suggestions. Gentile's reform remained in force well beyond the Fascist regime, and was only partly abolished in 1962.
Croce was instrumental in the relocation of the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III
The Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III (''Victor Emmanuel III National Library'') is a national library of Italy. It occupies the eastern wing of the 18th-century Palazzo Reale in Naples, at 1 Piazza del Plebiscito, and has entrances from ...
to Naples' Palazzo Reale
This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent.
Africa
* Abdin Palace, Cairo
* Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo
* Koubbeh Palace, Cairo
* Tahra Palace, Cairo
* Menelik Palace
* Jubilee Palace
* Guenete Leul Palace
* Imperial Palace- Massa ...
in 1923.
Relations with Italian Fascism
Croce initially supported Mussolini's Fascist government that took power in 1922. However, the assassination by Fascists of the socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti
Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence ...
in June 1924 shook Croce's support for Mussolini. In May 1925 Croce was one of the signatories to the Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals
The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, written by Benedetto Croce in response to the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals by Giovanni Gentile, sanctioned the irreconcilable split between the philosopher and the Fascist government of B ...
which had been written by Croce himself; however, in June of the previous year, he had voted in the Senate in support of the Mussolini government. He later explained that he had hoped that the support for Mussolini in parliament would weaken the more extreme Fascists who, he believed, were responsible for Matteotti's murder.
Croce later became one of the firmest opponents of fascism.
In 1928, Croce voted against the law which effectively abolished free elections in Italy by requiring electors to vote for a list of candidates approved by the Grand Council of Fascism. He became increasingly dismayed by the number of ex-democrats who had abandoned their former principles. Croce frequently provided financial assistance to anti-Fascist writers and dissidents such as Giorgio Amendola
Giorgio Amendola (21 November 1907 – 5 June 1980) was an Italian writer and politician. He is regarded and often cited as one of the main precursors of the Olive Tree. Born in Rome in 1907, Amendola was the son of Lithuanian intellectual Eva ...
, Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi (18 October 1873 – 20 April 1951) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1921 to 1922 and again from 1944 to 1945.
Background and earlier career
Ivanoe Bonomi was born in Mantua, I ...
, and Meuccio Ruini
Meuccio Ruini (14 December 1877 – 6 March 1970) was an Italian jurist and socialist politician who served as the president of the Italian Senate and the minister of the colonies.
Biography
After graduating in law from the University of Bologna, ...
, as well as those who wanted to maintain intellectual and political independence from the regime, and covertly helped them get published. Croce's house in Turin became a popular destination for anti-Fascists, and after the war, Amendola along with communists such as Eugenio Reale reflected that Croce offered aid and encouragement to both liberal and Marxist resistance members during the crucial years.
Croce was seriously threatened by Mussolini's regime, though the only act of physical violence he suffered at the hands of the fascists was the ransacking of his home and library in Naples in November 1926. Although he managed to stay outside prison thanks to his reputation, he remained subject to surveillance, and his academic work was kept in obscurity by the government, to the extent that no mainstream newspaper or academic publication ever referred to him. Croce later coined the term ''onagrocrazia'' (literally "government by asses") to emphasize the anti-intellectual and boorish tendencies of parts of the Fascist regime. However, in describing Fascism as anti-intellectual Croce ignored the many Italian intellectuals who at the time actively supported Mussolini's regime, including Croce's former friend and colleague, Gentile. Croce also described Fascism as ''malattia morale'' (literally "moral illness"). When Mussolini's government adopted antisemitic policies in 1938, Croce was the only non-Jewish intellectual who refused to complete a government questionnaire designed to collect information on the so-called "racial background" of Italian intellectuals. Besides writing in his periodical, Croce used other means to express his anti-racism
Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...
and to make public statements against the persecution of the Jews.
Brief government stints and constitutional referendum
In 1944, when democracy was restored in Southern Italy, Croce, as an "icon of liberal anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
", became minister without portfolio in governments headed by Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
for about a month and again for a month by Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi (18 October 1873 – 20 April 1951) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1921 to 1922 and again from 1944 to 1945.
Background and earlier career
Ivanoe Bonomi was born in Mantua, I ...
(Ryn, 2000:xi–xii) He left the government in July 1944 but remained president of the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
until 1947 (Ryn, 2000:xii).
Croce voted for the Monarchy in the 1946 Italian constitutional referendum
An institutional referendum ( it, referendum istituzionale, or ) was held in Italy on 2 June 1946, Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 a key event of Italian contemporary history.
Until 194 ...
, after having persuaded his Liberal Party to adopt a neutral stance. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
which existed in Italy between June 1946 and January 1948. He spoke in the Assembly against the Peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
(signed in February 1947), which he regarded as humiliating for Italy. He declined to stand as provisional President of Italy
The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...
.
Philosophical works
Croce's most interesting philosophical ideas are expounded in three works: ''Aesthetic'' (1902), ''Logic'' (1908), and ''Philosophy of the Practical'' (1908), but his complete work is spread over 80 books and 40 years worth of publications in his own bi-monthly literary magazine, ''La Critica'' (Ryn, 2000:xi[History as the story of liberty: English translation of Croce's 1938 collection of essays originally in Italian; translation published by Liberty Fund Inc. in the US in 2000 with a foreword by ]Claes G. Ryn
Claes Gösta Ryn (born 12 June 1943) is an American conservative academic and educator, who hails from Sweden.
Background
Ryn was born and raised in Norrköping in Sweden. He attended the Latin Gymnasium, Norrköpings Högre Allmänna Läroverk ...
. (hardback). See .) Croce was philosophically a pantheist
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has e ...
, but, from a religious point of view, an agnostic; however, he did publish an essay entitled "Why We Cannot Help Calling Ourselves Christians". This essay shows the Christian roots of European culture, but religion is considered by Croce a mere propaedeutic
Propaedeutics or propedeutics (from Ancient Greek , ''propaídeusis'' 'preparatory education') is a historical term for an introductory course into an art or science. The etymology of propedeutics comprises the Latin prefix ''pro'', meaning earlier ...
study for philosophy, which is the only true science: philosophy is, in fact, the science of spirit (the "Philosophy of Spirit").
Philosophy of spirit
Heavily influenced by Hegel and other German Idealists such as Schelling Schelling is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Caroline Schelling (1763–1809), German intellectual
* Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), German philosopher
* Felix Emanuel Schelling (1858–1945), American educato ...
, Croce produced what was called, by him, the Philosophy of Spirit. His preferred designations were " absolute idealism" or "absolute historicism". Croce's work can be seen as a second attempt (contra Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
) to resolve the problems and conflicts between empiricism and rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...
(or sensationalism and transcendentalism, respectively). He calls his way ''immanentism'', and concentrates on the lived human experience, as it happens in specific places and times. Since the root of reality is this immanent existence in concrete experience, Croce places aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
at the foundation of his philosophy.
Domains of mind
Croce's methodological approach to philosophy is expressed in his divisions of the spirit, or mind. He divides mental activity first into the theoretical, and then the practical. The theoretical division splits between aesthetic and logic. This theoretical aesthetic includes most importantly: intuitions and history. The logical includes concepts and relations. Practical spirit is concerned with economics and ethics. Economics is here to be understood as an exhaustive term for all utilitarian matters.
Each of these divisions has an underlying structure that colors, or dictates, the sort of thinking that goes on within them. While Aesthetic is driven by beauty, Logic is subject to truth, Economics is concerned with what is useful, and the moral, or Ethics, is bound to the good. This schema is descriptive in that it attempts to elucidate the logic of human thought; however, it is prescriptive as well, in that these ideas form the basis for epistemological claims and confidence.
History
Croce also had great esteem for Vico, and shared his opinion that history should be written by philosophers. Croce's ''On History'' sets forth the view of history as "philosophy in motion", that there is no "cosmic design" or ultimate plan in history, and that the "science of history" was a farce.
Aesthetics
Croce's work ''Breviario di estetica'' (''The Essence of Aesthetics'') appears in the form of four lessons (''quattro lezioni'') in aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
that he was asked to write and deliver at the inauguration of Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...
in 1912. He declined an invitation to attend the event, but he wrote the lessons and submitted them for translation so that they could be read in his absence.
In this brief, but dense, work, Croce sets forth his theory of art. He believed that art is more important than science or metaphysics since only art edifies us. He claimed that all we know can be reduced to imaginative knowledge. Art springs from the latter, making it at its heart, pure imagery. All thought is based in part on this, and it precedes all other thought. The task of an artist is then to invent the perfect image that they can produce for their viewer since this is what beauty fundamentally is – the formation of inward, mental images in their ideal state. Our intuition is the basis for forming these concepts within us.
Croce was the first to develop a position later known as aesthetic expressivism,[Berys Gaut and Dominic McIver Lopes, ''The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics'', Routledge, 2002, ch. 11: "Expressivism: Croce and Collingwood."] the idea that art expresses emotions, not ideas. ( R. G. Collingwood later developed a similar thesis.)[
Croce's theory was later debated by such contemporary Italian philosophers as ]Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
, who locates the aesthetic within a semiotic construction.[Umberto Eco, ''A Theory of Semiotics'' (Indiana University Press, 1976).]
Contributions to liberal political theory
Croce's liberalism differs from the theories advocated by most proponents of liberal political thought, including those in Britain and in the United States. While Croce theorises that the individual is the basis of society, he rejects social atomism. While Croce accepts limited government
In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal Th ...
, he disputes the idea that the government should have fixed legitimate powers.
Croce did not agree with John Locke about the nature of liberty. Croce believed that liberty is not a natural right
Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights.
* Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', '' fundamental'' an ...
but an earned right that arises out of continuing historical struggle for its maintenance.
Croce defined civilization as the "continual vigilance" against barbarism, and liberty conformed to his ideal for civilization as it allows one to experience the full potential of life.
Croce also rejects egalitarianism
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
as absurd. In short, his variety of liberalism is aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word' ...
, as he views society being led by the few who can create the goodness of truth, civilization, and beauty, with the great mass of citizens, simply benefiting from them but unable to fully comprehend their creations (Ryn, 2000:xii).
In ''Etica e politica'' (1931), Croce defines liberalism as an ethical conception of life that rejects dogmatism and favors diversity, and in the name of liberty and free choice of the individual, is hostile to the authoritarianism of fascism, communism, and the Catholic Church. While Croce realizes that democracy can sometimes threaten individual liberty, he sees liberalism and democracy as predicated on the same ideals of moral equality and opposition to authority. Furthermore, he acknowledged the positive historic role played by the Socialist parties in Italy in their struggles to improve conditions for the working class, and urged modern socialists to swear off dictatorial solutions. In contrast to the socialists, who Croce viewed as part of modernity along with liberals, his condemnation of reactionaries is unremittingly harsh.
Croce also draws a distinction between liberalism and capitalism or ''laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
'' economic doctrines. For Croce, capitalism only emerged to meet certain economic needs of society, and could be changed or even replaced if better solutions to those needs were found, if it failed to promote freedom, or if economic values clashed with higher values. Thus liberalism could welcome socialistic proposals so long as they promoted freedom. Croce's ideas on the separation between liberalism as an ethical principle and the contingent ''laissez-faire'' economic doctrines which accompanied it in certain contexts would influence Italian social democrats such as Leo Valiani
Leo Valiani (''Weiczen Leó''; 9 February 1909 – 18 September 1999) was an Italian historian, politician and journalist.
Early life
Valiani was born in ''Fiume'' (now Rijeka), on the Adriatic Sea (then in Hungarian part of Austria-Hunga ...
and Giuseppe Saragat as well as the liberal socialist
Liberal socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates liberal principles to socialism. This synthesis sees liberalism as the political theory that takes the inner freedom of the human spirit as a given and adopts liberty as the goal, ...
synthesis of Carlo Rosselli.
Selected bibliography
* ''Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica'' (1900). English edition: ''Historical Materialism and the Economics of Karl Marx''. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2004.
* ''L'Estetica come scienza dell'espressione e linguistica generale'' (1902), commonly referred to as ''Aesthetic'' in English.
* Benedetto Croce, (1908) ''Philosophy of the Practical Economic and Ethic'', Douglas Ainslie (trans.) (1913) Macmillan and Co., Limited, London.
*
* ''La filosofia di Giambattista Vico'' (1911)
* ''Filosofia dello spirito'' (1912)
*
* ''Breviario di estetica'' (1913)
*
* ''Aportaciones a la Critica de Mi Mismo (Aportaciones a la crítica de mí mismo)'' (1918)
* ''Storie e leggende napoletane'' (1919)
*
** See English edition: ''Theory and history of Historiography'', Douglas Ainslie, Editor: George G. Harrap. London (1921).
* ''Racconto degli racconti'' (first translation into Italian from Neapolitan of Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile (February 1566 – February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembere ...
's ''Pentamerone
The ''Pentamerone'', subtitled ''Lo cunto de li cunti'' ("The Tale of Tales"), is a seventeenth-century Neapolitan fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile.
Background
The stories in the ''Pentamerone'' were collec ...
'', ''Lo cunto de li cunti'', 1925)
* "Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals
The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, written by Benedetto Croce in response to the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals by Giovanni Gentile, sanctioned the irreconcilable split between the philosopher and the Fascist government of B ...
" (1 May 1925 in ''La Critica'')
* ''History of Europe in the nineteenth century'' (1933)
* ''Ultimi saggi'' (1935)
* ''La poesia'' (1936)
*
* ''Il carattere della filosofia moderna'' (1941)
* ''Perché non possiamo non dirci "cristiani"'' (1942)
* ''Politics and Morals'' 1946
PDF
(First published in 1946. Croce's dynamic conception of liberty, liberalism and the relation of individual morality to the State).
* ''Filosofia e storiografia'' (1949)
See also
* Contributions to liberal theory
Contribution or Contribute may refer to:
* ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990)
** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album
*Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability
*Contributions, a ...
References
Further reading
* Parente, Alfredo. ''Il pensiero politico di Benedetto Croce e il nuovo liberalismo'' (1944).
* Hayden White, "The Abiding Relevance of Croce's Idea of History." The Journal of Modern History, vol. XXXV, no 2, June 1963, pp. 109–124.
* Hayden White, "The Question of Narrative in Contemporary Historical Theory", History and Theory, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Feb. 1984), pp. 1–33.
* Myra E. Moss, ''Benedetto Croce reconsidered: Truth and Error in Theories of Art, Literature, and History '',(1987). Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 1987.
* Ernesto Paolozzi, ''Science and Philosophy in Benedetto Croce'', in "Rivista di Studi Italiani", University of Toronto, 2002.
* Janos Keleman, ''A Paradoxical Truth. Croce's Thesis of Contemporary History'', in "Rivista di Studi Italiani, University of Toronto, 2002.
* Giuseppe Gembillo, ''Croce and the Theorists of Complexity'', in "Rivista di Studi Italiani, University of Toronto, 2002.
* Fabio Fernando Rizi, ''Benedetto Croce and Italian Fascism'', University of Toronto Press, 2003. .
* Ernesto Paolozzi, ''Benedetto Croce'', Cassitto, Naples, 1998 (translated by M. Verdicchio (2008) www.ernestopaolozzi.it)
* Carlo Schirru, Per un’analisi interlinguistica d’epoca: Grazia Deledda e contemporanei, Rivista Italiana di Linguistica e di Dialettologia, Fabrizio Serra editore, Pisa–Roma, Anno XI, 2009, pp. 9–32
* Matteo Veronesi, ''Il critico come artista dall'estetismo agli ermetici. D'Annunzio, Croce, Serra, Luzi e altri'', Bologna, Azeta Fastpress, 2006, , https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46092588_Il_critico_come_artista_dall'Estetismo_agli_Ermetici
* Roberts, David D. ''Benedetto Croce and the Uses of Historicism''. Berkeley: U of California Press, (1987).
* Claes G. Ryn, ''Will, Imagination and Reason: Babbitt, Croce and the Problem of Reality'' (1997; 1986).
* R. G. Collingwood
"Croce's Philosophy of History"
in ''The Hibbert Journal'', XIX: 263–278 (1921), collected in Collingwood, ''Essays in the Philosophy of History'', ed. William Debbins (University of Texas 1965) at 3–22.
* Roberts, Jeremy, ''Benito Mussolini'', Twenty-First Century Books, 2005. .
* Richard Bellamy, ''A Modern Interpreter: Benedetto Croce and the Politics of Italian Culture'', in The European Legacy, 2000, 5:6, pp. 845–861. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713665534
* Daniela La Penna, '' The Rise and Fall of Benedetto Croce: Intellectual Positionings in the Italian Cultural Field, 1944–1947'', in Modern Italy, 2016, 21:2, pp. 139–155. DOI:: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/mit.2016.5
External links
Fondazione Biblioteca Benedetto Croce
Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Storici, founded by Benedetto Croce
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Online English translations of books by Croce
Croce's Aesthetics
At the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
PEN International
* Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini
"Liberismo e liberalismo nella polemica fra Croce ed Einaudi"
* Antonio Zanfarino
"Liberalismo e liberismo. Il confronto Croce-Einaudi"
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Croce, Benedetto
1866 births
1952 deaths
People from the Province of L'Aquila
Idealists
Italian Liberal Party politicians
Government ministers of Italy
Education ministers of Italy
Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy
Members of the National Council (Italy)
Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy
Senators of Legislature I of Italy
Pantheists
Politicians of Abruzzo
Continental philosophers
20th-century Italian philosophers
Italian agnostics
Italian anti-fascists
Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals
Philosophers of history
Members of the Institute for Catalan Studies
Giambattista Vico scholars
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy