Editing Italian philosophy

{{Short description|Philosophical tradition of Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Luca signorelli, cappella di san brizio, poets, empedocle.jpg|thumb|[[Luca Signorelli]], ''Empedocles'', 1499–1502. The fresco is part of the cycle of ''Stories of the Last Days'' that decorate the San Brizio Chapel, in the [[Orvieto Cathedral]]. [[Empedocles]], philosopher from [[Agrigento]], [[Magna Graecia]], who is one of the most illustrious characters who decorate the base of the chapel, is portrayed as he observes the [[Last Judgment]] in amazement.]]
{{Italian language|state=expanded}}

Over the ages, '''Italian philosophy''' had a vast influence on [[Western philosophy]], beginning with the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], and going onto [[Renaissance humanism]], the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and [[modern philosophy]].<ref name=Garin>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVP3vBmDktQC |title=History of Italian Philosophy |last=Garin |first=Eugenio |year=2008 |publisher=VIBS|isbn=9789042023215 }}</ref> Philosophy was brought to Italy by [[Pythagoras]], founder of the school of philosophy in [[Crotone]], [[Magna Graecia]].<ref name="Herodotus"/> Major philosophers of the Greek period include [[Xenophanes]], [[Parmenides]], [[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]], [[Empedocles]] and [[Gorgias]]. Roman philosophers include [[Cicero]], [[Lucretius]], [[Seneca the Younger]], [[Musonius Rufus]], [[Plutarch]], [[Epictetus]], [[Marcus Aurelius]], [[Clement of Alexandria]], [[Sextus Empiricus]], [[Alexander of Aphrodisias]], [[Plotinus]], [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], [[Iamblichus (philosopher)|Iamblichus]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[John Philoponus|Philoponus of Alexandria]] and [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethius]].

Italian Medieval philosophy was mainly Christian, and included philosophers and theologians such as St [[Thomas Aquinas]], the foremost classical proponent of [[natural theology]] and the father of [[Thomism]], who reintroduced [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian philosophy]] to Christianity.<ref name="dartmouthapologia"/> Notable Renaissance philosophers include: [[Giordano Bruno]], one of the major scientific figures of the western world; [[Marsilio Ficino]], one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the period; and [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], one of the main founders of modern [[political science]]. Italy was also affected by the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. University cities such as Padua, Bologna and Naples remained centres of scholarship and the intellect, with several philosophers such as [[Giambattista Vico]] (widely regarded as being the founder of modern Italian philosophy)<ref name="maritain.nd.edu"/> and [[Antonio Genovesi]]. [[Cesare Beccaria]] was a significant Enlightenment figure and is now considered one of the fathers of [[Classical school (criminology)|classical criminal theory]] as well as modern [[penology]].

Italy also had a renowned philosophical movement in the 1800s, with [[Idealism]], [[Sensism]] and [[Empiricism]]. The main Sensist Italian philosophers were [[Melchiorre Gioja]] and [[Gian Domenico Romagnosi]]. Criticism of the Sensist movement came from other philosophers such as [[Pasquale Galluppi]]. [[Antonio Rosmini]], instead, was the founder of [[Italian idealism]]. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, there were also several other movements which gained some form of popularity in Italy, such as [[Ontologism]] (whose main philosopher was [[Vincenzo Gioberti]]),<ref name="Scarangello"/> [[Anarchism in Italy|anarchism]], communism, socialism, futurism, fascism and Christian democracy. [[Giovanni Gentile]] and [[Benedetto Croce]] were two of the most significant 20th-century Idealist philosophers. [[Antonio Gramsci]] remains a relevant philosopher within Marxist and communist theory, credited with creating the theory of [[cultural hegemony]]. Italian philosophers were also influential in the development of the non-Marxist [[liberal socialism]] philosophy, including [[Carlo Rosselli]], [[Norberto Bobbio]], [[Piero Gobetti]] and [[Aldo Capitini]]. In the 1960s, many Italian left-wing activists adopted the [[anti-authoritarian]] pro-working class leftist theories that would become known as [[autonomism]] and ''[[operaismo]]''.<ref name="Balestrini"/>

Early [[Feminism in Italy|Italian feminists]] include [[Sibilla Aleramo]], [[Alaide Gualberta Beccari]], and [[Anna Maria Mozzoni]], though proto-feminist philosophies had previously been touched upon by earlier Italian writers such as [[Christine de Pizan]], [[Moderata Fonte]], and [[Lucrezia Marinella]]. Italian physician and educator [[Maria Montessori]] is credited with the creation of the [[Montessori education|philosophy of education that bears her name]], an educational philosophy now practiced throughout the world.<ref name=Montessori /> [[Giuseppe Peano]] was one of the inspirers of analytic philosophy and contemporary philosophy of mathematics. Recent analytic philosophers include [[Carlo Penco]], [[Gloria Origgi]], [[Pieranna Garavaso]] and [[Luciano Floridi]].

==Greek origins==
{{see also|Magna Graecia}}
[[File:Busto di Parmenide (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Parmenides]]]]

Philosophy was brought to Italy by [[Pythagoras]], founder of the school of philosophy in [[Crotone]], [[Magna Graecia]].<ref name="Herodotus">{{cite book |author=Herodotus |title=The Histories |page=226 |publisher=Penguin Classics}}</ref> Major philosophers of the Greek period include [[Xenophanes]], [[Parmenides]], [[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]], [[Empedocles]] and [[Gorgias]].

[[Parmenides]] has been considered the founder of [[ontology]] or [[metaphysics]] and has influenced the whole history of [[Western philosophy]].<ref name="palmer">{{cite SEP |url-id=parmenides |title=Parmenides |last=Palmer |first=John|date=2020}}</ref> His single known work, a poem later titled ''On Nature'', has survived only in fragments. Approximately 160 verses remain today from an original total that was probably near 800.<ref name="palmer"/> The poem was originally divided into three parts: An introductory proem which explains the purpose of the work, a former section known as "The Way of Truth" (''[[aletheia]]'', ἀλήθεια), and a latter section known as "The Way of Appearance/Opinion" (''[[doxa]]'', δόξα).

[[Empedocles]]' philosophy is best known for originating the [[cosmogonic]] theory of the four [[classical elements]].<ref name="Gray">{{Cite book|title=Braving the Elements|last=Gray|first=Harry|publisher=University Science Books|year=1995|pages=1}}</ref> Empedocles is considered the last Greek philosopher to write in verse. There is a debate<ref>{{cite book |last1=Inwood |first1=Brad |title=The poem of Empedocles : a text and translation with an introduction |date=2001 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=0-8020-8353-6 |pages=8–21 |edition=rev.}}</ref> about whether the surviving fragments of his teaching should be attributed to two separate poems, "Purifications" and "On Nature", with different subject matter, or whether they may all derive from one poem with two titles,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Osborne |first1=Catherine |title=Rethinking early Greek philosophy : Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics |date=1987 |publisher=Duckworth |location=London |isbn=0-7156-1975-6 |pages=24–31, 108}}</ref> or whether one title refers to part of the whole poem. Some scholars argue that the title "Purifications" refers to the first part of a larger work called (as a whole) "On Nature".<ref>Simon Trépanier, (2004), ''Empedocles: An Interpretation'', Routledge.</ref>

[[Gorgias]], along with [[Protagoras]], forms the first generation of [[Sophist]]s. "Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions from the audience and give impromptu replies."<ref name="Guthrie">[[W. K. C. Guthrie]], ''The Sophists'' (New York: [[Cambridge University Press]], 1971), p. 270.</ref> He has been called "Gorgias the [[Nihilism|Nihilist]]" although the degree to which this epithet adequately describes his philosophy is controversial.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofphilthomrich|quote=Gorgias the Nihilist.|title=A dictionary of philosophy in the words of philosophers |author=J. Radford Thomson|publisher=Reeves and Turner|year=1887|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofphilthomrich/page/225 225]}}</ref><ref name="Rosenkrantz, G. 2002">Rosenkrantz, G. (2002). The Possibility of Metaphysics: Substance, Identity, and Time*. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 64(3), 728–736.</ref><ref name="Gronbeck, B. E. 1972">Gronbeck, B. E. (1972). Gorgias on rhetoric and poetic: A rehabilitation. ''Southern Journal of Communication'', 38(1), 27–38.</ref><ref name="Caston, V. 2002">Caston, V. (2002). Gorgias on Thought and its Objects. ''Presocratic philosophy: Essays in honor of Alexander Mourelatos''.</ref>

==Ancient Rome==
{{main|Ancient Roman philosophy}}
[[File:Seneca-berlinantikensammlung-1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]]]]
[[Ancient Roman philosophy]] was heavily influenced by [[Greek philosophy|the ancient Greeks]] and the schools of [[Hellenistic philosophy]]; however, unique developments in philosophical schools of thought occurred during the Roman period as well. Interest in philosophy was first excited at Rome in 155 BC, by an Athenian embassy consisting of the [[Academic skepticism|Academic skeptic]] [[Carneades]], the [[Stoicism|Stoic]] [[Diogenes of Babylon]], and the [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]] [[Critolaus]].<ref name="IEP">{{Cite web | url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/romanphi/ | title=Roman Philosophy &#124; Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>

During this time [[Athens]] declined as an intellectual center of thought while new sites such as [[Alexandria]] and [[Rome]] hosted a variety of philosophical discussion.<ref name="Annas2000">{{Cite book|last=Annas, Julia.|title=Voices of Ancient Philosophy: An Introductory Reader|date=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-512694-5|oclc=870243656}}</ref> Both leading schools of law of the Roman period, the [[Sabinian school|Sabinian]] and the [[Proculeian school|Proculean]] Schools, drew their ethical views from readings on the Stoics and Epicureans respectively,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lorenzen|first=Ernest G.|date=1925|title=Specification in the Civil Law|journal=The Yale Law Journal|volume=35|issue=1|pages=29–47|doi=10.2307/789534|jstor=789534|issn=0044-0094}}</ref> allowing for the competition between thought to manifest in a new field in Rome's jurisprudence. It was during this period that a common tradition of the western philosophical literature was born in commenting on the works of Aristotle.<ref name="Annas2000" />

There were several formidable Roman philosophers, such as [[Cicero]] (106–43 BC), [[Lucretius]] (94–55 BC), [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] (4 BC – 65 AD), [[Musonius Rufus]] (30 AD – 100 AD), [[Plutarch]] (45–120 AD), [[Epictetus]] (55–135 AD), [[Marcus Aurelius]] (121–180 AD), [[Clement of Alexandria]] (150–215 AD), [[Alcinous (philosopher)|Alcinous]] (2nd century AD), [[Sextus Empiricus]] (3rd century AD), [[Alexander of Aphrodisias]] (3rd century AD), [[Ammonius Saccas]] (3rd century AD), [[Plotinus]] (205–270 AD), [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] (232–304 AD), [[Iamblichus (philosopher)|Iamblichus]] (242–327 AD), [[Themistius]] (317–388 AD), [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430 AD), [[Proclus]] (411–485 AD), [[John Philoponus|Philoponus of Alexandria]] (490–570 AD), [[Damascius]] (462–540 AD), [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethius]] (472–524 AD), and [[Simplicius of Cilicia]] (490–560 AD).<ref name=Garin/>

==Medieval==
[[File:Anselm_of_Canterbury.jpg|thumb|upright|A colourised 16th-century portrait of [[Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury]]]]
Italian Medieval philosophy was mainly Christian, and included several important philosophers and theologians such as [[Anselm of Aosta]]. Born in 1033 in [[Aosta]], in his mid-twenties Anselm entered the Benedictine school at [[Bec Abbey|Bec]] in [[Normandy]] where he came under the tutelage of [[Lanfranc]].

In 1063 Anselm succeeded Lanfranc as prior and was consecrated abbot in 1078. Anselm held the office of [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1093 to 1109. He is famed as the originator of the [[ontological argument]] for the existence of God and of the [[satisfaction theory of atonement]]. Anselm's works are considered philosophical as well as theological since they endeavour to render Christian tenets of faith, traditionally taken as a revealed truth, as a rational system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Brian |author2-last=Leftow |author2-first=Brian |display-authors=1 |date=2004 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Anselm |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8zGpbpwRhIC&pg=PA2 |page=2 |location=[[Cambridge, England|Cambridge]] |isbn=0-521-00205-2 }}</ref>

Among the Italian medieval philosophers who exerted the greatest influence a very important one is [[Peter Lombard]]. Born in [[Lumellogno]], in the region of Novara, Italy, Peter studied first in the [[cathedral school of Rheims]]. In 1136 he arrived in Paris with a letter of introduction from [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] to Gilduin, abbot of the house of Saint Victor, where [[Hugh of Saint Victor]] was the leading thinker.

Peter became a Master of Arts in the Parisian schools by 1143 or 1144. In 1145 he was made a canon of the [[Notre-Dame de Paris|cathedral of Notre-Dame]] in Paris. By 1156, perhaps earlier, Peter was archdeacon of Paris; in 1159 he became bishop of Paris. Peter’s most enduring contribution to medieval thought was the ''Sententiae in IV libris distinctae'' ([[Four Books of Sentences]], 1155–7), a systematic investigation of the whole range of questions that arise under the topic now designated ‘theology’. Often presented in modern scholarship as merely a collection of the opinions of earlier authorities on theological topics, the ''Sententiae'' is now recognized as a sophisticated work that resolves major (and minor) theological issues with skill and insight. Generations of university scholars, including Thomas Aquinas, wrote commentaries on it as part of their theological education and teaching. Peter also wrote influential biblical commentaries on the [[Psalms]] and the [[Pauline epistles]] (''[[Magna glossatura]]'').

[[File:Thomas Aquinas by Fra Bartolommeo.jpg|thumb|upright|[[St Thomas Aquinas]].]]
The most important Italian medieval philosopher is [[St Thomas Aquinas]], the foremost classical proponent of [[natural theology]] and the father of [[Thomism]]. Aquinas was the student of [[Albert the Great]], a brilliant Dominican experimentalist, much like the Franciscan, [[Roger Bacon]] of Oxford in the 13th century.

Aquinas reintroduced [[Aristotelian philosophy]] to Christianity.<ref name="dartmouthapologia">{{Cite web |url=http://www.dartmouthapologia.org/articles/show/125 |title=Reason and Faith: The Thought of Thomas Aquinas |last=Blair |first=Peter |website=The Dartmouth Apologia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913011656/http://www.dartmouthapologia.org/articles/show/125 |archive-date=13 September 2013 |access-date=18 December 2013}}</ref> He believed that there was no contradiction between faith and secular reason. He believed that [[Aristotle]] had achieved the pinnacle in the human striving for truth and thus adopted Aristotle's philosophy as a framework in constructing his theological and philosophical outlook. He was a professor at the prestigious [[University of Paris]].

He argued that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith.<ref>[https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/BoethiusDeTr.htm#23 Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the De Trinitate of Boethius, quest. 2, art. 3]</ref> He has been described as "the most influential thinker of the [[medieval period]]"<ref>[[John F. Wippel|Wippel, John F.]] (1995) 2nd ed., "Aquinas, Saint Thomas," ''[[The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy]]'', Cambridge University Press. p. 36.</ref> and "the greatest of the [[medieval philosophy|medieval philosopher]]-theologians."<ref>[[Alexander Broadie|Broadie, Alexander]] (1999). "Aquinas, St Thomas," ''[[The Oxford Companion to Philosophy]]'', Oxford University Press, p. 43.</ref> His influence on [[Western thought]] is considerable, and much of [[modern philosophy]] is derived from his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, [[natural law]], [[metaphysics]], and political theory.

The [[Catholic Church]] honors Thomas Aquinas as a [[saint]] and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and [[speculative reason|speculative]] [[theology]]. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, and [[canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]]).<ref>Code of [[Canon Law]], Can. 252, §3 {{Cite web |url= https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PW.HTM |title=Code of Canon Law |website=vatican.va |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110508022209/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PW.HTM |archive-date=8 May 2011 |access-date=22 March 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Francisco de Zurbarán - The Prayer of St. Bonaventura about the Selection of the New Pope - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco de Zurbarán]]: The Prayer of St. Bonaventura about the Selection of the New Pope.]]
Next to Aquinas ranks [[Bonaventure]], perhaps the foremost Franciscan theologian of the 13th century, whose only real rival, in terms of immediate and ultimate influence, is the Scottish [[Duns Scotus]].

A disciple of [[Alexander of Hales]] and [[John of La Rochelle]], Bonaventure was an [[Augustinianism|Augustinian]], rejecting much of the Aristotelianism incorporated by his contemporary Thomas Aquinas. While [[Siger of Brabant]] and [[Boetius of Dacia]], defended an Aristotle tainted with [[Averroism]] and Thomas Aquinas tried to give the Philosopher a theologically acceptable interpretation, Bonaventure moved in completely different way. Aristotle for him was an authority who must be read critically and with eyes open.

When in 1273 he gave his conferences on the [[Hexameron]], he denounced the nefarious influence of Aristotle in Theology and undertook to expound what, according to him, Christian wisdom consisted in. This Christian wisdom that he intended to expound determined the sources of his knowledge; his choice was significant, since he turned more readily to [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite|Pseudo-Dionysius]] than to Aristotle. That is to say that he intended to construct a spiritual synthesis and not a rationally scientific work. In works such as ''Breviloquium'' or ''De triplici via'', Bonaventure describes theology as wisdom (''sapientia'') rather than science (''scientia'') and considers its main task to be the achievement of spiritual perfection.

==Renaissance==
The [[Renaissance]] was an essentially Italian (Florentine) movement, and also a great period of the arts and philosophy. Among the distinctive elements of Renaissance philosophy are the revival (''renaissance'' means "rebirth") of [[Ancient Greece|classical civilization]] and [[Education in ancient Greece|learning]]; a partial return to the authority of [[Plato]] over [[Aristotle]], who had come to dominate later [[medieval philosophy]]; and, among some philosophers, enthusiasm for the [[occult]] and [[Hermeticism]].

As with all periods, there is a wide drift of dates, reasons for categorization and boundaries. In particular, the Renaissance, more than later periods, is thought to begin in Italy with the [[Italian Renaissance]] and roll through Europe.

===Humanism===
[[File:Giordano Bruno.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Giordano Bruno]], one of the major scientific figures of the western world.]]
[[Renaissance Humanism]] was a European intellectual movement that was a crucial component of the [[Renaissance]], beginning in [[Florence]] in the latter half of the 14th century, and affected most of Italy. The humanist movement developed from the rediscovery by European scholars of [[Latin (language)|Latin]] literary and [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] literary texts. Initially, a humanist was simply a scholar or teacher of Latin literature. By the mid-15th century humanism described a curriculum – the ''[[studia humanitatis]]'' – consisting of grammar, rhetoric, moral philosophy, poetry, and history as studied via Latin and Greek literary authors.

Humanism offered the necessary intellectual and philological tools for the first critical analysis of texts. An early triumph of [[textual criticism]] by [[Lorenzo Valla]] revealed the ''[[Donation of Constantine]]'' to be an early medieval forgery produced in the [[Curia]]. This textual criticism created sharper controversy when [[Erasmus]] followed Valla in criticizing the accuracy of the [[Vulgate]] translation of the New Testament, and promoting readings from the original Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.<ref>See Jerry Bentley, ''Humanists and holy writ'' Princeton University, 1983, 32–69, 137–193.</ref>

Italian Renaissance humanists believed that the liberal arts (art, music, grammar, rhetoric, oratory, history, poetry, using classical texts, and the studies of all of the above) should be practiced by all levels of "richness". They also approved of self, human worth and individual dignity.
They hold the belief that everything in life has a determinate nature, but man's privilege is to be able to ''choose'' his own path. [[Pico della Mirandola]] wrote the following concerning the creation of the universe and man's place in it:
[[File:Pico1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pico della Mirandola]]]]

{{blockquote|But when the work was finished, the Craftsman kept wishing that there were someone to ponder the plan of so great a work, to love its beauty, and to wonder at its vastness. Therefore, when everything was done... He finally took thought concerning the creation of man... He therefore took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus: "Neither a fixed abode nor a form that is thine alone nor any function peculiar to thyself have we given thee, Adam, to the end that according to thy longing and according to thy judgement thou mayest have and possess what abode, what form and what functions thou thyself shalt desire. The nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of law. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul's judgement, to be born into the higher forms, which are divine."<ref>Pico 224–225</ref>}}

Italian culture produced the great Renaissance commentators on Aristotle's ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Baroque Visual Rhetoric|first=Vernon Hyde|last=Minor|year=2016|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnU2CwAAQBAJ|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|isbn=978-1-4426-4879-1}}</ref> [[Giorgio Valla]]'s 1498 Latin translation of Aristotle's text (the first to be published) was included with the 1508 [[Aldine Press|Aldine]] printing of the Greek original as part of an [[anthology]] of ''Rhetores graeci''. There followed an ever-expanding corpus of texts on poetics in the later fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth, a phenomenon that began in [[Italy]] and spread to [[Spain]], [[England]], and [[France]]. Among the most important Renaissance works on poetics are [[Marco Girolamo Vida]]'s ''De arte poetica'' (1527), [[Gian Giorgio Trissino]]'s ''La Poetica'' (1529, expanded edition 1563) and [[Paolo Beni]]'s commentary on Aristotle's ''Poetics'' (1613).<ref>{{cite book |last=Spingarn |first=Joel Elias |author-link=Joel Elias Spingarn |title=La critica letteraria nel Rinascimento |publisher=G. Laterza & figli |year=1905 |location=Bari |page=416}}</ref>. By the early decades of the sixteenth century, Italian versions of Aristotle's ''Poetics'' appeared, culminating in [[Lodovico Castelvetro]]'s editions of 1570 and 1576. In the [[baroque]] period [[Emanuele Tesauro]], with his ''Cannocchiale aristotelico'', re-presented to the world of post-[[Galileo Galilei|Galilean]] [[physics]] Aristotle's poetic theories as the sole key to approaching the [[Human science|human sciences]].<ref>{{cite book|title=On literature|first=Umberto|last=Eco|isbn=978-0-15-100812-4|publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]]|year=2004|page=236|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Hyhi3bRg-wC}}</ref>

===Neoplatonism===
[[File:Marsilio Ficino - Angel Appearing to Zacharias (detail).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Marsilio Ficino]], one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the Renaissance.]]

Italy was also affected by a movement called Neoplatonism, which was a movement which had a general revival of interest in [[Classical antiquity]]. Interest in Platonism was especially strong in [[Florence]] under the [[Medici]].

During the sessions at Florence of the [[Council of Ferrara-Florence]] in 1438–1445, during the failed attempts to heal the [[East–West Schism|schism of the Orthodox and Catholic churches]], [[Cosimo de' Medici]] and his intellectual circle had made acquaintance with the Neoplatonic philosopher [[George Gemistos Plethon]], whose discourses upon Plato and the Alexandrian mystics so fascinated the learned society of Florence that they named him the second Plato.

In 1459 [[John Argyropoulos]] was lecturing on Greek language and literature at Florence, and [[Marsilio Ficino]] became his pupil. When Cosimo decided to refound [[Plato's Academy]] at Florence, his choice to head it was [[Ficino]], who made the classic translation of [[Plato]] from [[Greek language|Greek]] to [[Latin]] (published in 1484), as well as a translation of a collection of Hellenistic Greek documents of the [[Hermetica|Hermetic Corpus]],<ref>[[Frances Yates|Yates, Frances A]]. (1964) ''[[Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition]].'' [[University of Chicago Press]] 1991 edition: {{ISBN|0-226-95007-7}}</ref> and the writings of many of the Neoplatonists, for example [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], [[Iamblichus (philosopher)|Iamblichus]], [[Plotinus]], ''et al.''. Following suggestions laid out by [[Gemistos Plethon]], Ficino tried to [[Syncretism|synthesize]] Christianity and [[Platonism]].

===Machiavelli===
[[File:Santi di Tito - Niccolo Machiavelli's portrait headcrop.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Niccolò Machiavelli]] (1469–1527), one of the main founders of modern [[political science]].]]
[[Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli]] (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an [[Italians|Italian]] philosopher /writer, and is considered one of the most influential Italian Renaissance philosophers and one of the main founders of modern [[political science]].<ref name="Moschovitis Group Inc 1999">Moschovitis Group Inc, Christian D. Von Dehsen and Scott L. Harris, ''Philosophers and religious leaders'', (The Oryx Press, 1999), 117.</ref> His most famous work was ''[[The Prince]]''. The Prince's contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political [[Realism (international relations)|realism]] and political [[idealism]].<ref name="Moschovitis Group Inc 1999"/> Niccolò Machiavelli's best-known book exposits and describes the arts with which a ruling prince can maintain control of his realm. It concentrates on the "new prince", under the presumption that a hereditary prince has an easier task in ruling, since the people are accustomed to him. To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully maintain the socio-political institutions to which the people are accustomed; whereas a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling, since he must first stabilize his new-found power in order to build an enduring political structure. That requires the prince being a public figure above reproach, whilst privately acting immorally to maintain his state. The examples are those princes who most successfully obtain and maintain power, drawn from his observations as a Florentine diplomat, and his [[ancient history]] readings; thus, the [[Latin]] phrases and Classic examples.

''The Prince'' politically defines "Virtu"—as any quality that helps a prince rule his state effectively. Machiavelli is aware of the irony of good results coming from evil actions, and because of this, the Catholic Church proscribed ''The Prince'', registering it to the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]], moreover, the Humanists also viewed the book negatively, among them, [[Erasmus]] of Rotterdam. As a treatise, its primary intellectual contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political [[Realism (international relations)|Realism]] and political [[Idealism]]—thus, ''The Prince'' is a manual to acquiring and keeping political power. In contrast with [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], a Classical ideal society is not the aim of the prince's will to power. As a political scientist, Machiavelli emphasises necessary, methodical exercise of brute force and deception to preserve the status quo.

Between Machiavelli's advice to ruthless and tyrannical princes in ''The Prince'' and his more republican exhortations in ''Discorsi'', some have concluded that The Prince is actually only a satire. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], for instance, admired Machiavelli the republican and consequently argued that ''The Prince'' is a book for the republicans as it exposes the methods used by princes. If the book was only intended as a manual for tyrannical rulers, it contains a paradox: it would apparently be more effective if the secrets it contains would not be made publicly available. Also [[Antonio Gramsci]] argued that Machiavelli's audience was the common people because the rulers already knew these methods through their education. This interpretation is supported by the fact that Machiavelli wrote in Italian, not in Latin (which would have been the language of the ruling elite).

Many contemporaries associated Machiavelli with the political tracts offering the idea of "Reason of State", an idea proposed most notably in the writings of [[Jean Bodin]] and [[Giovanni Botero]].
To this day, contemporary usage of ''Machiavellian'' is an adjective describing someone who is ''"marked by cunning, duplicty, or bad faith"''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Machiavellian|title=Definition of MACHIAVELLIAN|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref>''. The Prince'' is the treatise that is most responsible for the term being brought about.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2kiYz6d278IC&q=quentin+skinner+machiavelli&pg=PT9|title=Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction|last=Skinner|first=Quentin|date=12 October 2000|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191540349}}</ref> To this day, ''Machiavellianism'' also remains a popular term used casually in political discussions, often as a byword for bare-knuckled political realism.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rahe|first=Paul A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqroV-TkIhgC&q=paul%20a%20rahe&pg=PR36|title=Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1139448338|page=xxxvi|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary|title=Definition of Machiavellianism|dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster's Dictionary]]|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Machiavellianism|access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref>

==Age of Enlightenment==
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 | caption1 = [[Cesare Beccaria]] (1738–1794) was one of the greatest writers of the Italian Age of Enlightenment.
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 | caption2 = [[Giambattista Vico]], one of the greatest philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment.
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Italy was also affected by the enlightenment, a movement which was a consequence of the [[Renaissance]] and changed the road of Italian philosophy.<ref name="history-world.org">{{cite web|url=http://history-world.org/enlightenment_throughout_europe.htm|title=The Enlightenment throughout Europe|website=history-world.org|access-date=9 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123082708/http://history-world.org/enlightenment_throughout_europe.htm|archive-date=23 January 2013|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Followers of the group often met to discuss in private salons and coffeehouses, notably in the cities of [[Milan]], Rome and [[Venice]]. Cities with important universities such as [[Padua]], [[Bologna]] and [[Naples]], however, also remained great centres of scholarship and the intellect, with several philosophers such as [[Giambattista Vico]] (1668–1744) (who is widely regarded as being the founder of modern Italian philosophy)<ref name="maritain.nd.edu">{{cite web|url=http://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/hop70.htm|title=History of Philosophy 70|website=maritain.nd.edu|access-date=9 January 2010|archive-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525033238/http://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/hop70.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Antonio Genovesi]].<ref name="history-world.org"/>

Giambattista Vico criticized the expansion and development of modern [[rationalism]], finding [[Cartesianism|Cartesian]] analysis and other types of [[reductionism]] impractical to human life, and he was an apologist for [[classical antiquity]] and the [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance humanities]], in addition to being the first expositor of the fundamentals of [[social science]] and of [[semiotics]]. He is recognised as one of the first [[Counter-Enlightenment]] figures in history. The Latin [[aphorism]] ''Verum esse ipsum factum'' ("truth is itself something made") coined by Vico is an early instance of [[constructivist epistemology]].<ref>Ernst von Glasersfeld, ''An Introduction to Radical Constructivism''.</ref><ref>Bizzell and Herzberg, ''The Rhetorical Tradition'', p. 800.</ref> He inaugurated the modern field of the [[philosophy of history]], and, although the term ''philosophy of history'' is not in his writings, Vico spoke of a "history of philosophy narrated philosophically."<ref>The contemporary interpretation of Vico is by Verene, Donald Philip. See: "Giambattista Vico" (2002), ''A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy'', Steven M. Nadler, ed. London:Blackwell Publishing, {{ISBN|0-631-21800-9}}, p. 570.</ref>

Italian society also dramatically changed during the Enlightenment, with rulers such as [[Leopold II of Tuscany]] abolishing the death penalty. The church's power was significantly reduced, and it was a period of great thought and invention, with scientists such as [[Alessandro Volta]] and [[Luigi Galvani]] discovering new things and greatly contributing to Western science.<ref name="history-world.org"/> [[Cesare Beccaria]] was a significant Enlightenment figure and is now considered one of the fathers of [[Classical school (criminology)|classical criminal theory]] as well as modern [[penology]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite book|last=Hostettler|first=John|title=Cesare Beccaria: The Genius of 'On Crimes and Punishments'|date=2011|publisher=Waterside Press|location=Hampshire|isbn=978-1904380634|page=160}}</ref> Beccaria is famous for his ''[[On Crimes and Punishments]]'' (1764), a treatise that served as one of the earliest prominent condemnations of torture and the death penalty and thus a landmark work in anti-death penalty philosophy, which was later translated into 22 languages.<ref name="history-world.org"/>

==Early modern and 19th-century philosophy==
{{further|Italian idealism}}
[[File:Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) Ritratto di Antonio Rosmini (1853-1856) Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Milano.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Antonio Rosmini]], the founder of [[Italian idealism]]]]

Italy also had a renowned philosophical movement in the 1800s, with [[Idealism]], [[Sensism]] and [[Empiricism]]. The main Sensist Italian philosophers were [[Melchiorre Gioja]] (1767–1829) and [[Gian Domenico Romagnosi]] (1761–1835).<ref name="maritain.nd.edu"/> Criticism of the Sensist movement came from other philosophers such as [[Pasquale Galluppi]] (1770–1846), who affirmed that ''a priori'' relationships were synthetic.<ref name="maritain.nd.edu"/> [[Antonio Rosmini]], instead, was the founder of [[Italian idealism]]. The most comprehensive view of Rosmini's philosophical standpoint is to be found in his ''Sistema filosofico'', in which he set forth the conception of a complete encyclopaedia of the human knowable, synthetically conjoined, according to the order of ideas, in a perfectly harmonious whole. Contemplating the position of recent philosophy from [[John Locke|Locke]] to [[Georg Hegel|Hegel]], and having his eye directed to the ancient and fundamental problem of the origin, truth and certainty of our ideas, he wrote: "If philosophy is to be restored to love and respect, I think it will be necessary, in part, to return to the teachings of the ancients, and in part to give those teachings the benefit of modern methods" (''Theodicy'', a. 148). He examined and analysed the fact of human knowledge, and obtained the following results:

# that the notion or idea of being or existence in general enters into, and is presupposed by, all our acquired cognitions, so that, without it, they would be impossible
# that this idea is essentially objective, inasmuch as what is seen in it is as distinct from and opposed to the mind that sees it as the light is from the eye that looks at it
# that it is essentially true, because being and truth are convertible terms, and because in the vision of it the mind cannot err, since error could only be committed by a judgment, and here there is no judgment, but a pure intuition affirming nothing and denying nothing
# that by the application of this essentially objective and true idea the human being intellectually perceives, first, the animal body individually conjoined with him, and then, on occasion of the sensations produced in him not by himself, the causes of those sensations, that is, from the action felt he perceives and affirms an agent, a being, and therefore a true thing, that acts on him, and he thus gets at the external world, these are the true primitive judgments, containing
## the subsistence of the particular being (subject), and
## its essence or species as determined by the quality of the action felt from it ([[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]])
# that reflection, by separating the essence or species from the subsistence, obtains the full specific idea (universalization), and then from this, by leaving aside some of its elements, the abstract specific idea (abstraction)
# that the mind, having reached this stage of development, can proceed to further and further abstracts, including the first principles of reasoning, the principles of the several sciences, complex ideas, groups of ideas, and so on without end
# finally, that the same most universal idea of being, this generator and formal element of all acquired cognitions, cannot itself be acquired, but must be innate in us, implanted by God in our nature. Being, as naturally shining to our mind, must therefore be what men call the light of reason. Hence the name Rosmini gives it of ideal being; and this he laid down as the fundamental principle of all philosophy and the supreme criterion of truth and certainty. This he believed to be the teaching of St Augustine, as well as of St Thomas, of whom he was an ardent admirer and defender.
[[File:Ritratto di Vincenzo Gioberti, 1847 - Accademia delle Scienze di Torino - Ritratti 0143 B.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Vincenzo Gioberti]]]]

In the 19th century, there were also several other movements which gained some form of popularity in Italy, such as [[Ontologism]]. The main Italian son of this philosophical movement was [[Vincenzo Gioberti]] (1801–1852),<ref name="Scarangello">{{cite journal |last1=Scarangello |first1=Anthony |title=Major Catholic-Liberal Educational Philosophers of the Italian Risorgimento |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=1964 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=232–250|doi=10.2307/367499 |jstor=367499 |s2cid=147563567 }}</ref> who was a priest and a metaphysician. Gioberti's writings are more important than his political career. In the general history of European philosophy they stand apart. As the speculations of [[Antonio Rosmini-Serbati|Rosmini-Serbati]], against which he wrote, have been called the last link added to medieval thought, so the system of Gioberti, known as [[Ontologism]], more especially in his greater and earlier works, is unrelated to other modern schools of thought. It shows a harmony with the Roman Catholic faith which caused [[Victor Cousin|Cousin]] to declare that Italian philosophy was still in the bonds of [[theology]], and that Gioberti was no philosopher.

Method is with him a synthetic, subjective and psychological instrument. He reconstructs, as he declares, ontology, and begins with the ideal formula, the "Ens" creates ''ex nihilo'' the existent. God is the only being (Ens); all other things are merely existences. God is the origin of all human knowledge (called lidea, thought), which is one and so to say identical with God himself. It is directly beheld (intuited) by reason, but in order to be of use it has to be reflected on, and this by means of language. A knowledge of being and existences (concrete, not abstract) and their mutual relations, is necessary as the beginning of philosophy.

Gioberti is in some respects a [[Plato]]nist. He identifies religion with civilization, and in his treatise ''Del primato morale e civile degli Italiani'' arrives at the conclusion that the church is the axis on which the well-being of human life revolves. In it he affirms the idea of the supremacy of Italy, brought about by the restoration of the papacy as a moral dominion, founded on religion and public opinion. In his later works, the ''Rinnovamento'' and the ''Protologia'', he is thought by some to have shifted his ground under the influence of events.

His first work, written when he was thirty-seven, had a personal reason for its existence. A young fellow-exile and friend, Paolo Pallia, having many doubts and misgivings as to the reality of revelation and a future life, Gioberti at once set to work with ''La Teorica del sovrannaturale'', which was his first publication (1838). After this, philosophical treatises followed in rapid succession. The ''Teorica'' was followed by ''Introduzione allo studio della filosofia'' in three volumes (1839–1840). In this work he states his reasons for requiring a new method and new terminology. Here he brings out the doctrine that religion is the direct expression of the idea in this life, and is one with true civilization in history. [[Civilization]] is a conditioned mediate tendency to perfection, to which religion is the final completion if carried out; it is the end of the second cycle expressed by the second formula, the Ens redeems existences.

Essays (not published till 1846) on the lighter and more popular subjects, ''Del bello'' and ''Del buono'', followed the ''Introduzione''. ''Del primato morale e civile degli Italiani'' and the ''Prolegomeni'' to the same, and soon afterwards his triumphant exposure of the Jesuits, ''Il Gesuita moderno'', no doubt hastened the transfer of rule from clerical to civil hands. It was the popularity of these semi-political works, increased by other occasional political articles, and his ''Rinnovamento civile d'Italia'', that caused Gioberti to be welcomed with such enthusiasm on his return to his native country. All these works were perfectly orthodox, and aided in drawing the liberal clergy into the movement which has resulted since his time in the unification of Italy. The Jesuits, however, closed round the pope more firmly after his return to Rome, and in the end Gioberti's writings were placed on the Index. The remainder of his works, especially ''La Filosofia della Rivelazione'' and the ''Prolologia'', give his mature views on many points.

Other Ontological philosophers include [[Terenzio Mamiani]] (1800–1885), [[Luigi Ferri]] (1826–1895), and [[Ausonio Franchi]] (1821–1895).<ref name="maritain.nd.edu"/>

=== Hegelianism, Scholasticism and Positivism ===
[[File:Augusto Vera.png|thumb|upright|[[Augusto Vera]]]]

[[Augusto Vera]] (1813–1885) was probably the greatest Italian Hegelianist philosopher, who composed works in both French and Italian. It was during his studies, with his cousin in Paris, that he learned of philosophy and through them he acquired knowledge of [[Hegelianism]] and it culminated during the events of the 1848–49 French revolution. In England he continued his studies of Hegelian philosophy.<ref name="Italian">{{cite web |title=Augusto Vera | work=Facoltà Lettere e Filosofia | url=http://www.cosmovisions.com/Vera.htm | access-date=10 November 2006 |language=it }}</ref> During his years in Naples, he would maintain relationships with the Philosophical Society of Berlin, which originally consisted of Hegelians, and kept up to date with both the German and the French Hegelian literature. As a teacher, he undertook the translation of Hegel's ''Introduzione alla filosofia'' (Introduction to philosophy) in French.<ref>{{cite web |title=10. La rinascita hegeliana a Napoli | work=Ex-Regno delle Due Sicilie | url=http://www.eleaml.altervista.org/sud/destra_sinistra/ds_rinascita_hegeliana.html | access-date=10 November 2006 |language=it }}</ref> A lot of his work on neo-Hegelian theories were undertaken with Bertrando Spaventa.<ref>{{cite web |title=L'ESCATOLOGIA PITAGORICA NELLA TRADIZIONE OCCIDENTALE | work=RITO SIMBOLICO ITALIANO | url=http://www.ritosimbolico.net/archivio/archivio_02.html | access-date=10 November 2006 |language=it }}</ref> Some works see the Italian Hegelian doctrine as having led to Italian Fascism.<ref>{{cite web | title=Idealismo. Idealistas. | work=Enciclopedia GER | url=http://www.canalsocial.net/GER/ficha_GER.asp?titulo=IDEALISMO.%20IDEALISTAS.&cat=filosofia | access-date=10 November 2006 | language=it | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181528/http://www.canalsocial.net/GER/ficha_GER.asp?titulo=IDEALISMO.%20IDEALISTAS.&cat=filosofia | archive-date=30 September 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the mid-19th century, interest in [[Scholasticism|scholastic thought]] began once again to flourish, in large part in reaction against the [[Modernism in the Catholic Church|Modernism]] inspired by thinkers such as [[René Descartes]], [[Immanuel Kant]] and [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Georg Hegel]], whose principles were perceived to conflict with Christian dogma.<ref>{{cite book|first=Fergus|last=Kerr|title=Twentieth-century Catholic theologians|publisher=Blackwell|year=2007|p=1|location=Oxford}}</ref> This was particularly vigorous at first in Italy. "The direct initiator of the [[Neo-scholasticism|neo-Scholastic]] movement in Italy was [[Gaetano Sanseverino]] (1811–1865), a canon at Naples."<ref>Joseph Louis Perrier, ''The Revival of Scholastic Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century'', "Chapter IX: The Neo-Scholastic Revival in Italy", {{cite web |title=Jacques Maritain Center: Revival 9 |url=http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/perrier9.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009074833/http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/perrier9.html |archive-date=2015-10-09 |access-date=2013-08-01}} Accessed 1 August 2013</ref>  The influential German Jesuit [[Joseph Kleutgen]] (1811–83), who taught at Rome, argued that post-Cartesian philosophy undermined Catholic theology, and that its remedy was the Aristotelian scientific method of Aquinas.<ref>{{cite book|first=Fergus|last=Kerr|chapter=Thomism|title=The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology|location=Cambridge|year=2011|p=507|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> From 1874 to 1891, the Accademia di San Tommaso of Rome published the review ''La Scienza Italiana''. Numerous works were produced by [[Giovanni Maria Cornoldi]] (1822–92), [[Giuseppe Pecci]], [[Tommaso Maria Zigliara]] (1833–93), [[Francesco Satolli]] (1839–1909), [[Matteo Liberatore]] (1810–92), Alberto Barberis (1847–96), Santo Schiffini (1841–1906), Salvatore Talamo, [[Antonio Ballerini]], Guido Mattiussi and others. The Italian writers at first laid special emphasis on the metaphysics of Scholasticism, and less on the empirical sciences or the history of philosophy.

The two main figures of nineteenth century Italian [[positivism]] were [[Carlo Cattaneo]] (1801–69) and [[Roberto Ardigò]] (1828–1920). Ardigò introduced the fundamental themes of European positivism into Italian culture. Influenced to a large extent by [[Herbert Spencer|Spencer]], he maintained that concrete, scientifically verifiable experiences constituted the outer limit of any philosophical theory of reality. Ardigò's "positive philosophy" was a synthesis of various philosophical and scientific theories, including positivism, [[evolutionism]], and spiritualism. Inspired by [[Auguste Comte]], Ardigò differed from Comte in that he considered thought more important than matter. He believed thought was dominant in every action and the result of every action, and that it disappears only in a state of general corruption. His treatise ''La psicologia come scienza positiva'' (1870) is an important contribution to the birth of modern European psychology, showing the influence of [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] and [[John Stuart Mill]] and proposing that psychic phenomena depend on physiological ones. His writings on pedagogy and moral philosophy (many put on the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|Index]] by the Church) include ''La morale dei positivisti'' (1879), in which he argues that [[morality]] is independent of religion and criticizes contemporary spiritualism. In the twentieth century, positivist thinking was continued by the [[Italian school of criminology]], particularly [[Cesare Lombroso]] (1835–1909) and [[Enrico Ferri (criminologist)|Enrico Ferri]] (1846–1929).

==Modern, contemporary and 20th-century philosophy==
[[File:Idealisti italiani.png|thumb|315px|[[Benedetto Croce]] (''left'') and [[Giovanni Gentile]] (''right''), the two greatest exponents of the [[Italian idealism]].]]
Some of the most prominent philosophies and ideologies in Italy during the late 19th and 20th centuries included [[anarchism]], [[communism]], [[socialism]], [[futurism]], [[Italian Fascism|fascism]], [[italian idealism|idealism]], and [[Christian democracy]]. Both futurism and fascism (in its original form, now often distinguished as [[Italian fascism]]) were developed in Italy at this time. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Italian Fascism was the official philosophy and ideology of the Italian government. [[Giovanni Gentile]] was one of the greatest Italian 20th-century Idealist/Fascist philosophers, who greatly supported [[Benito Mussolini]]. He had great a number of developments within his thought and career which defined his philosophy.
* The discovery of [[Actual Idealism]] in his work ''Theory of the Pure Act'' (1903)
* The political favour he felt for the invasion of [[Libya]] (1911) and the entry of Italy into World War I (1915)
* The dispute with Benedetto Croce over the historic inevitability of Fascism.
* His role as education minister (1923)
* His belief that Fascism could be made to be subservient to his thought and the gathering of influence through the work of such students as Ugo Spirito.

[[Benedetto Croce]], one of the greatest Italian 20th-century Idealist philosophers, wrote that Gentile "...holds the honor of having been the most rigorous neo–Hegelian in the entire history of Western philosophy and the dishonor of having been the official philosopher of Fascism in Italy."<ref>[[Benedetto Croce]], ''Guide to Aesthetics'', Translated by Patrick Romanell, "Translator's Introduction," The Library of Liberal Arts, The Bobbs–Merrill Co., Inc., 1965</ref> His philosophical basis for fascism was rooted in his understanding of [[ontology]] and [[epistemology]], in which he found vindication for the rejection of [[individualism]], acceptance of [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivism]], with the [[State (polity)|state]] as the ultimate location of authority and loyalty to which the individual found in the conception of individuality no meaning outside of the state (which in turn justified [[totalitarianism]]). Ultimately, Gentile foresaw a social order wherein opposites of all kinds weren't to be given sanction as existing independently from each other; that 'publicness' and 'privateness' as broad interpretations were currently [[Reflexivity (social theory)|false as imposed]] by all former kinds of Government; capitalism, communism, and that only the reciprocal totalitarian state of Corporative Syndicalism, a Fascist state, could defeat these problems made from reifying as an external that which is in fact to Gentile only a thinking reality. Whereas it was common in the philosophy of the time to see conditional subject as abstract and object as concrete, Gentile postulated the opposite, that subject was the concrete and objectification was abstraction (or rather; that what was conventionally dubbed "subject" was in fact only conditional object, and that true subject was the 'act of' being or essence above any object).

Gentile was a notable philosophical theorist of his time throughout Europe, since having developed his 'Actual Idealism' system of [[Idealism]], sometimes called 'Actualism.' It was especially in which his ideas put subject to the position of a transcending [[Verstehen|truth above positivism]] that garnered attention; by way that all senses about the world only take the form of ideas within one's mind in any real sense; to Gentile even the analogy between the function & location of the physical brain with the functions of the physical body were a consistent creation of the mind (and not brain; which was a creation of the mind and not the other way around). An example of [[Actual Idealism]] in [[Theology]] is the idea that although man may have invented the concept of God, it does not make God any less real in any sense possible as far as it is not presupposed to exist as abstraction and except in case qualities about what existence actually entails (i.e. being invented apart from the thinking making it) are presupposed. [[Benedetto Croce]] objected that Gentile's "pure act" is nothing other than [[Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer]]'s [[Will (philosophy)|will]].<ref>[[Dagobert D. Runes|Runes, Dagobert]], editor, ''Treasure of Philosophy'', "Gentile, Giovanni"</ref> Therefore, Gentile proposed a form of what he called 'absolute [[Immanentism]]' in which the divine was the present conception of reality in the totality of one's individual thinking as an evolving, growing and dynamic process. Many times accused of [[Solipsism]], Gentile maintained his philosophy to be a [[Humanism]] that sensed the possibility of nothing beyond what was contingent; the self's human thinking, in order to communicate as immanence is to be human like oneself, made a cohesive empathy of the self-same, without an external division, and therefore not modeled as objects to one's own thinking.
[[File:Gramsci.png|thumb|upright|left|[[Antonio Gramsci]]]]

Meanwhile, [[anarchism]], [[communism]], and [[socialism]], though not originating in Italy, took significant hold in Italy during the early 20th century, with the country producing numerous significant figures in anarchist, socialist, and communist thought. In addition, [[anarcho-communism]] first fully formed into its modern strain within the Italian section of the [[First International]].<ref name="Nunzio Pernicone pp. 111–13">Nunzio Pernicone, "Italian Anarchism 1864–1892", pp. 111–13, AK Press 2009.</ref> [[Anarchism in Italy|Italian anarchists]] often adhered to forms of [[anarcho-communism]], [[illegalist]] or [[insurrectionary anarchism]], [[collectivist anarchism]], [[anarcho-syndicalism]], and [[platformism]]. Some of the most important figures in the late 19th and 20th century anarchist movement include Italians such as [[Errico Malatesta]], [[Giuseppe Fanelli]], [[Carlo Cafiero]], [[Alfredo M. Bonanno]], [[Renzo Novatore]], [[Pietro Gori]], [[Luigi Galleani]], [[Severino Di Giovanni]], [[Giuseppe Ciancabilla]], [[Luigi Fabbri]], [[Camillo Berneri]], and [[Sacco and Vanzetti]]. Other Italian figures influential in both the anarchist and socialist movements include [[Carlo Tresca]] and [[Andrea Costa]], as well as the author, director, and intellectual [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]]. [[Antonio Gramsci]] remains an important philosopher within [[Marxist]] and communist theory, credited with creating the theory of [[cultural hegemony]]. Italian philosophers were also influential in the development of the non-Marxist [[liberal socialism]] philosophy, including [[Carlo Rosselli]], [[Norberto Bobbio]], [[Piero Gobetti]], [[Aldo Capitini]], and [[Guido Calogero]]; [[Gianni Vattimo]] borders this tradition, defending a "weak Marxism", as part of his ''pensiero debole'' (weak thought) take on [[hermeneutics]]. 21st century [[Post-Marxism|post-marxist]] philosophers include [[Giorgio Agamben]] and [[Antonio Negri]].In the 1960s, many Italian left-wing activists adopted the [[anti-authoritarian]] pro-[[working class]] leftist theories that would become known as [[autonomism]] and ''[[operaismo]]''.<ref name="Balestrini">{{cite book |first1=Nanni |last1= Balestrini |first2=Primo |last2=Moroni |title=L'orda d'oro 1968–1977. La grande ondata rivoluzionaria e creativa, politica ed esistenziale |year= 1997 |publisher=SugarCo | isbn=88-07-81462-5}}</ref>
[[File:Maria Montessori (portrait).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Maria Montessori]]]]

Important scholars and specialists include [[Giovanni Reale]] and [[Enrico Berti]] in Ancient philosophy; [[Franco Volpi (philosopher)|Franco Volpi]] and Diego Giordano in German philosophy, [[Umberto Eco]] in [[semiotics]] and [[narrative theory]], [[Maurizio Ferraris]] in hermeneutics and ontology. [[Cornelio Fabro]] (1911–95), made major scholarly contributions to the study of Aquinas, drewing attention to Platonic elements in Thomism (such as ‘participation’), later an emphasis for Anglican Thomists such as [[Eric Lionel Mascall|Mascall]] and figures associated with the [[Radical orthodoxy|Radical Orthodoxy movement]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2022 |title=Thomism |encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199642465.001.0001/acref-9780199642465-e-7188 |access-date=31 July 2024 |last=Davison |first=Andrew}}</ref> Early and important [[Feminism in Italy|Italian feminists]] include [[Sibilla Aleramo]], [[Alaide Gualberta Beccari]], and [[Anna Maria Mozzoni]], though proto-feminist philosophies had previously been touched upon by earlier Italian writers such as [[Christine de Pizan]], [[Moderata Fonte]], [[Lucrezia Marinella]]. The Italian physician and educator [[Maria Montessori]] is credited with the creation of the [[Montessori education|philosophy of education that bears her name]], an educational philosophy now practiced throughout the world.<ref name=Montessori>{{cite web|title=Introduction to Montessori Method|publisher=American Montessori Society|url=https://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori}}</ref>

The [[Montessori education|Montessori method of education]] is a system of education for children that seeks to develop natural interests and activities rather than use formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands on learning and developing real-world skills.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Stacy |title=Computers and Technology in Montessori Schools |url=https://montessorifortoday.com/computers-and-technology-in-montessori-schools/ |access-date=29 June 2022|website=Montessori For Today |language=en-us}}</ref> It was developed by physician [[Maria Montessori]]. It emphasizes independence and it views children as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a sufficiently supportive and well-prepared learning environment. The underlying philosophy can be viewed as stemming from Unfoldment Theory.<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 March 2018|title=Theories of Learning: 3 Theories {{!}} Psychology|url=https://www.psychologydiscussion.net/psychology/theories-of-learning/theories-of-learning-3-theories-psychology/13465|access-date=20 February 2022|website=Psychology Discussion – Discuss Anything About Psychology|language=en-US}}</ref> It discourages some conventional measures of achievement, such as grades and tests. Montessori developed her theories in the early 20th century through scientific experimentation with her students; the method has since been used in many parts of the world, in public and private schools alike.<ref name="intro-to-montessori">{{cite web|title=Introduction to Montessori Method|publisher=American Montessori Society|url=https://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-date=10 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210043323/https://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Meinke |first1=Hannah |title=Exploring the Pros and Cons of Montessori Education |url=https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/pros_cons_montessori_education/ |access-date=24 October 2020 |date=11 April 2019 |archive-date=16 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216011219/https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/pros_cons_montessori_education/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A range of practices exists under the name "Montessori", which is not trademarked. Popular elements include mixed-age classrooms, student freedom (including their choices of activity), long blocks of uninterrupted work time, specially trained teachers and prepared environment. Scientific studies<ref>{{Cite web|last=Benyamin|first=Chaya|date=13 August 2021|title=Montessori: An Effective Learning Approach or a Matter of Faith?|url=https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/montessori-universally-effective-learning-approach-simple-matter-faith/|access-date=29 August 2021|website=theperspective.com/}}</ref> regarding the Montessori method are mostly positive, with a 2017 review stating that "broad evidence" exists for its efficacy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marshall|first=Chloë|date=December 2017|title=Montessori education: a review of the evidence base|journal=npj Science of Learning|language=en|volume=2|issue=1|pages=11|doi=10.1038/s41539-017-0012-7|issn=2056-7936|pmc=6161506|pmid=30631457|bibcode=2017npjSL...2...11M }}</ref>

The Italian mathematician [[Giuseppe Peano]] can be considered as one of the inspirers of contemporary philosophy of mathematic and [[analytic philosophy]] above all thanks to the influence he had on the thought of [[Bertrand Russell]]. [[Ludovico Geymonat]] and [[Francesco Barone]] also contributed to the birth of analytic philosophy in Italy by introducing the work of the [[Vienna Circle]] and [[Logical Positivism]].

Recent Italian analytic philosophers, many of whom work abroad, include [[Evandro Agazzi]], [[Francesco Berto]], [[Claudia Bianchi]], [[Cristina Bicchieri]], [[Emiliano Boccardi]], [[Roberto Casati]], [[Annalisa Coliva]], [[Franca D'Agostini]], [[Maria Luisa Dalla Chiara]], [[Mauro Dorato]], [[Luciano Floridi]], [[Pieranna Garavaso]], [[Aldo Gargani]], [[Giulio Giorello]], [[Luca Incurvati]], [[Lorenzo Magnani]], [[Diego Marconi]], [[Michela Massimi]], Luca Moretti, [[Gloria Origgi]], [[Carlo Penco]], [[Marcello Pera]], [[Eva Picardi]], [[Gualtiero Piccinini]], [[Stefano Predelli]], [[Marina Sbisà]], [[Alessandra Tanesini]], [[Alessandro Torza]], [[Laura Valentini]], [[Achille Varzi (philosopher)|Achille Varzi]], and [[Nicla Vassallo]].

==See also==
{{portal|Italy|Philosophy}}
* [[Ancient Roman philosophy]]
* [[Italian idealism]]
* [[List of Italian philosophers]]

==References==

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