Ludovico Geymonat (May 11, 1908 – November 29, 1991) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and historian of science. As a philosopher, he mainly dealt with

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

and

Marxist philosophy Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Western Marxism, which drew fro ...

, in which he gave an original turn to

dialectical materialism Dialectical materialism is a philosophy of science, history, and nature developed in Europe and based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxist dialectics, as a materialist philosophy, emphasizes the importance of real-world con ...

Biography

Born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, where Geymonat attended

Liceo classico Cavour Liceo Ginnasio statale "Camillo Benso di Cavour" is the oldest Liceo classico in Turin and one among the oldest and most prominent high schools in Italy, for pupils aged 14 to 19. It was transferred to its present location in 1931. History It was ...

, he graduated in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1930 and in

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

in 1932. Geymonat tried to break the wall between

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

that characterised the idealistic culture fostered by

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

intellectuals like

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 I ...

. In 1934 he went to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, to delve into the neo-positivist philosophy of the

Vienna Circle The Vienna Circle (german: Wiener Kreis) of Logical Empiricism was a group of elite philosophers and scientists drawn from the natural and social sciences, logic and mathematics who met regularly from 1924 to 1936 at the University of Vienna, cha ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he fought as a

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

. After the war, he became communist assessor in Milan, between 1946 and 1949, when he obtained a chair of

Theoretical philosophy The modern division of philosophy into theoretical philosophy and practical philosophyImmanuel Kant, ''Lectures on Ethics'', Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 41 ("On Universal Practical Philosophy"). Original text: Immanuel Kant, ''Kant’s Ges ...

at the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari ( it, Università degli Studi di Cagliari) is a university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 alon ...

. Then he taught as professor of

History of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

between 1952 and 1956, and as professor of

in the

University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

from 1956 to 1979. Member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

(PCI), later he was a supporter of the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replac ...

founded when PCI turned into the

Partito Democratico della Sinistra The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, t ...

. He died in

Rho, Lombardy Rho (; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan. The language spoken in Rho is Italian. Geography Rho is lapped by the river Olona and cro ...

in 1991.

Notable students

Evandro Agazzi Evandro Agazzi (born 1934) is an Italian philosopher and professor at the University of Genoa. His fields of interest are ethics of science and technology, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, philosophical anthrop ...

Mario Capanna Mario Capanna (born 10 January 1945) is an Italian politician and writer. Born in Città di Castello, he studied Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan, and was the leader of the Italian students' movement in the late 1960s and early 1 ...

Giulio Giorello Giulio Giorello (; 14 May 1945 – 15 June 2020) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, and epistemologist. Biography Giorello graduated with a degree in philosophy in 1968 and in mathematics in 1971 at the University of Milan. While the ...

* Mario Vegetti

Selected works

* ''Il problema della conoscenza nel positivismo'', Bocca, Torino 1931 * ''La nuova filosofia della natura in Germania'', Bocca, Torino 1934 * ''Studi per un nuovo razionalismo'', Chiantore, Torino 1945 * ''Saggi di filosofia neorazionalistica'', Einaudi, Torino 1953 * ''Galileo Galilei'', Einaudi, Torino 1957, * ''Filosofia e filosofia della scienza'', Feltrinelli, Milano 1960 * ''Filosofia e pedagogia nella storia della civiltà'', with Renato Tisato, Garzanti, Milano 1965, 3 voll. , 1965 * ''Attualità del materialismo dialettico'', with Enrico Bellone, Giulio Giorello and Silvano Tagliagambe,

Editori Riuniti Editori Riuniti is an Italian publishing house based in Rome that publishes books and magazines on the history of socialism, socialist thought, physics and mathematics theory, and the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. History ...

, Roma 1974 * ''Scienza e realismo'', Feltrinelli, Milano 1977 * ''Filosofia della probabilità'', with Domenico Costantini, Feltrinelli, Milano 1982 , * ''Riflessioni critiche su Kuhn e Popper'', Dedalo, Bari 1983 * ''Lineamenti di filosofia della scienza'',

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

, Milano 1985, new edition by Utet, Torino 2006 , * ''Le ragioni della scienza'', with Giulio Giorello and Fabio Minazzi, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1986 , * ''Storia del pensiero filosofico e scientifico'', Garzanti, Milano 1970-1976, 7 voll. , * ''La libertà'', Rusconi, Milano 1988 * ''La società come milizia'', edited by Fabio Minazzi, Marcos y Marcos 1989 , new edition ''La civiltà come milizia'', edited by Fabio Minazzi, La Città del Sole, Napoli 2008 * ''I sentimenti'', Rusconi, Milano 1989 * ''Filosofia, scienza e verità'', with

and Fabio Minazzi, Rusconi, Milano 1989 , * ''La Vienna dei paradossi. Controversie filosofiche e scientifiche nel Wiener Kreis'', edited by Mario Quaranta, il poligrafo, Padova 1991 * ''Dialoghi sulla pace e la libertà'', with Fabio Minazzi, Cuen, Napoli 1992 * ''La ragione'', with Fabio Minazzi and Carlo Sini, Piemme, Casale Monferrato 1994

Bibliographic works on Ludovico Geymonat

* Mario Quaranta (a cura di), ''Ludovico Geymonat filosofo della contraddizione'', Sapere, Padova, 1980 * Corrado Mangione (a cura di), ''Scienza e filosofia. Saggi in onore di Ludovico Geymonat'', Garzanti, Milano 1985 * Mirella Pasini, Daniele Rolando (a cura di), ''Il neoilluminismo italiano. Cronache di filosofia (1953-1962)'', Il Saggiatore, Milano 1991 * Fabio Minazzi, ''Scienza e filosofia in Italia negli anni Trenta: il contributo di Enrico Persico,

Nicola Abbagnano Nicola Abbagnano (; 15 July 1901 – 9 September 1990) was an Italian existential philosopher. Life Nicola Abbagnano was born in Salerno on 15 July 1901. He was the first-born son of a middle-class professional family. His father was a practi ...

e Ludovico Geymonat'', in ''Il cono d'ombra. La crisi della cultura agli inizi del '900'', Fabio Minazzi (edited by), Marcos y Marcos, Milano 1991, pp. 117–184 *

Norberto Bobbio Norberto Bobbio (; 18 October 1909 – 9 January 2004) was an Italian philosopher of law and political sciences and a historian of political thought. He also wrote regularly for the Turin-based daily ''La Stampa''. Bobbio was a social libera ...

, ''Ricordo di Ludovico Geymonat'', "Rivista di Filosofia", LXXXIV, 1, 1993 * Silvio Paolini Merlo, ''Consuntivo storico e filosofico sul "Centro di Studi Metodologici" di Torino (1940-1979)'', Pantograf (Cnr), Genova 1998 * Fabio Minazzi, ''La passione della ragione. Studi sul pensiero di Ludovico Geymonat'', Thélema Edizioni-Accademia di architettura, Università della Svizzera italiana, Milano-Mendrisio 2001 * Mario Quaranta, ''Ludovico Geymonat. Una ragione inquieta'', Seam, Formello 2001 * Fabio Minazzi (edited by), ''Filosofia, scienza e vita civile nel pensiero di Ludovico Geymonat'', La Città del Sole, Napoli 2003 * Fabio Minazzi, ''Contestare e creare. La lezione epistemologico-civile di Ludovico Geymonat'', La Città del Sole, Napoli 2004 * Silvio Paolini Merlo, ''Nuove prospettive sul "Centro di Studi Metodologici" di Torino'', in «Bollettino della Società Filosofica Italiana», n. 182, maggio/agosto 2004 * Fabio Minazzi (a cura di), ''Ludovico Geymonat, un Maestro del Novecento. Il filosofo, il partigiano e il docente'', Edizioni Unicopli, Milano 2009 * Pietro Rossi, ''Avventure e disavventure della filosofia. Saggi sul pensiero italiano del Novecento'', il Mulino, Bologna, 2009 * Bruno Maiorca (a cura di), ''Ludovico Geymonat. Scritti sardi. Saggi, articoli e interviste'', CUEC, Cagliari, 2008 * Fabio Minazzi, ''Ludovico Geymonat epistemologo'', Mimesis Edizioni, Milano 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Geymonat, Ludovico 1908 births 1991 deaths Writers from Turin Marxist theorists 20th-century Italian philosophers Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians Italian newspaper editors Italian male journalists Italian philosophers Politicians from Turin