Ugo Spirito (September 9, 1896,

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea lev ...

– April 28, 1979,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was an Italian philosopher; at first, a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

political philosopher and subsequently an

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 ...

thinker. He has also been an academic and a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

teacher.

Early life

Spirito undertook academic study in law and philosophy. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 371 He was initially an advocate of

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

although in 1918, whilst attending

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

, he abandoned his position to become a follower of the Actual Idealism of

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 ...

.C.P. Blamires, ''World Fascism - A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 629-30 By the age of 22 he was a self-proclaimed fascist and actualist.

Fascism

Spirito's particular interest in fascism was

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

and he came to discuss the subject in depth through the journal ''Nuovi Studi di Diritto, Economica e Politica''. He wrote extensively on his favoured topic of 'integral corporatism', a system where ownership would be concentrated in the hands of workers rather than shareholders. This belief in integral corporatism was sometimes equated with a commitment to

common ownership Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every econom ...

. Effectively therefore he represented the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

of fascism by supporting corporatism as a means of mass

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

and was the butt of criticism from other fascists who accused him of

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

. Spirito's economically left-wing ideals did not come to fruition in Fascist Italy and in the later years of fascism Spirito fell out of favour with

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

. Indeed, in 1942 he even attempted to publish a book of his theories, entitled ''Revolutionary War'', but permission was denied by Mussolini.

Stanley G. Payne Stanley George Payne (born September 9, 1934) is an American historian of modern Spain and European Fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Department ...

, ''A History of Fascism 1914-45'', Routledge, 1995, p. 387

Academic career

Outside of his involvement in fascist politics, Spirito held professorships at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

University of Messina The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the w ...

University of Genoa The University of Genoa, known also with the acronym UniGe ( it, Università di Genova), is one of the largest universities in Italy. It is located in the city of Genoa and regional Metropolitan City of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Ligur ...

, and at Rome itself. Initially, his academic attention was taken up with economics and criminal law, but, later in his career, he became more interested in philosophical questions. In terms of publications, he served as editor of the ''Giornale Critico della Filosofia Italiana'' and the ''Enciclopedia Italiana,'' and as joint director of the ''Nuovi Studi di Diritto, Economica e Politica''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spirito, Ugo 1896 births 1979 deaths People from Arezzo Idealists Italian fascists Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome 20th-century Italian philosophers Academic staff of the University of Messina

Early life

Fascism

Academic career

References

Further reading

External links