One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. Th... more One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. The former indicates a universal deontological ideal; the latter a selective set of personal and social virtues. Kant is a champion of Enlightenment but inherits various aspects of the humanistic tradition that began at the end of the fourteenth century. This tradition, which largely coincides with the so-called Hofliteratur, eclectically combines elements of ancient and Christian ethics and adds a strong pedagogical, aesthetic and socio-political trait to outline a secular morality of self-government. After briefly presenting the Enlightenment "humanist family", the article examines some figures of the humanistic tradition present in Kantian ethics: the Weltbürger, self-improvement and humanitas. Through them I show the substantial role of education, taste and social interplay. They converge in the sphere of pragmatic anthropology, the moment morals become involved in the dramatic theatre of the world with its dialectic and rhetoric of appearance. Here the ethics of the imperative intersect with ethics as prudence and the art of living. Rational freedom intersects with the contingency of reality and the inscrutability of the psyche. Morality becomes more impure, but also richer and more suited to take up the challenge of being human.
One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. Th... more One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. The former indicates a universal deontological ideal; the latter a selective set of personal and social virtues. Kant is a champion of Enlightenment but inherits various aspects of the humanistic tradition that began at the end of the fourteenth century. This tradition, which largely coincides with the so-called Hofliteratur, eclectically combines elements of ancient and Christian ethics and adds a strong pedagogical, aesthetic and socio-political trait to outline a secular morality of self-government. After briefly presenting the Enlightenment “humanist family”, the article examines some figures of the humanistic tradition present in Kantian ethics: the Weltbürger, self-improvement and humanitas. Through them I show the substantial role of education, taste and social interplay. They converge in the sphere of pragmatic anthropology, the moment morals become involved in the dramatic theatre...
The essay discusses the genealogy of the human being proposed by Carmine di Martino. This genealo... more The essay discusses the genealogy of the human being proposed by Carmine di Martino. This genealogy applies phenomenology to anthropological "autobiography", that is, to the natural history of man written by the sciences. The reference to the autobiographical and evolutionary account of ourselves is red in the essay as a kind of Bildungsroman, the novel of formation or "coming-of-age story" that tells how one becomes a person, overcoming the conflict between the individual and society, nature and freedom. Through this comparison considerations are made on the difference between scientific anthropology and philosophical anthropology regarding how we became ourselves. In this context some critical remarks on Di Martino's genealogy are outlined and in particular on the absolute primacy of language to understand human phenomena.
The article starts from the thesis that the concept of humanity is one of the few capable of prov... more The article starts from the thesis that the concept of humanity is one of the few capable of providing an overall orientation in contemporary reality. If this is true, then it is necessary to renew the humanism. To this aim, a brief reconstruction of modern humanism and its predominant anthropological model is proposed: a model of human ambiguity and finitude, which includes contradictory characters and is, therefore, far from triumphant or pacifying. On the basis of this model, the shortcomings of post-humanist positions are highlighted, which do not fully grasp human finitude. Finally, related to this finitude, the paper deploys a "methodological conservatism", that is, the need to recognize the dark and archaic sides of human nature. It is precisely thanks to such uncomfortable recognition that the ideals of Enlightenment humanism can be realistically preserved.
If the notion of “humanism” is controversial, then the figure of the humanist, person working in ... more If the notion of “humanism” is controversial, then the figure of the humanist, person working in the field of humanities, is equally controversial. It is nonetheless possible to find key concepts that join ancient and modern humanism and help understand the humanist’s role in society. They are the centrality of the human condition, the foundation of purely human values, the keeping of human inscrutability, the need to link virtues and knowledge, knowledge and life. The first part of the paper shows these key concepts in the earlier Humanism, highlighting both similarities and differences between Humanism and Enlightenment. The second part examines contemporary humanist associations. These are helpful for studying the nature of humanism and highlighting the fact that being humanist is never just an intellectual activity, an ordinary job, but a choice of life, a reflective way of using knowledge to improve oneself and human cohabitation. It is a way to learn, to teach, to show tangibl...
In a renowned essay, Odo Marquard’s set a cornerstone in defining anthropology from a history of ... more In a renowned essay, Odo Marquard’s set a cornerstone in defining anthropology from a history of concepts point of view. In the light of more recent researches, some of his conclusions are here reconsidered and criticised. The concept of anthropology, as developed by Herder, Kant, Wilhelm von Humboldt, romantic philosophers and physicians, and finally by Hegel and some of his followers, offers no evidence for Marquard’s alleged opposition between anthropology and philosophy of history. On the one side, in Kant’s or Hegel’s work anthropology is not as peripheral as Marquard argued; on the other side, romantic anthropologists developed a deep interest towards historical perspectives. Rather, anthropology was quite often considered as a nonmetaphysical alternative to psychology. These results also suggest a revision as to the role of anthropology on a broader historical scale. 1. Philosophical Anthropology in the history of concepts With his essay Zur Geschichte des philosophischen Beg...
... L'uso che Canetti fa delle sue «fon-ti» e la sua stessa scrittura protesa a stanare e me... more ... L'uso che Canetti fa delle sue «fon-ti» e la sua stessa scrittura protesa a stanare e mettere sotto gli occhi la no-stra più cruda realtà, inducono a fare simili domande ea fare un passo in-dietro per capire il suo «realismo» tutto figure, miti e leggende. È questo ...
In questi ultimi anni, con l’incalzare della globalizzazione, della rivoluzione digitale, della b... more In questi ultimi anni, con l’incalzare della globalizzazione, della rivoluzione digitale, della bioingegneria, dell’automazione, dell’intelligenza artificiale e altro ancora, l’essere umano è stato sottoposto a molteplici sollecitazioni che ne stanno “muovendo” il profilo. I confini di ciò che sarebbe proprio dell’uomo sono in vario modo messi in discussione. In tale contesto diviene necessaria, perfino urgente, una ricognizione del concetto di umanità, con uno sguardo il più possibile ampio, impegnato con i diversi fronti delle sfide in corso. È questo il tentativo del presente volume: contribuire a una riflessione sistematica sul complesso di problemi racchiusi nell’antica e nuova questione dell’identità umana.
In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology ... more In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology and anthropology in Kant's thought. Drawing the most incisive consequences both of the copernican revolution and Colombo's discovery, Kant's cosmological anthropology reveals to be the modern uneasy mundana sapientia, and let us thoroughly understand the pregnant meaning of the historiographic topos "man and world". World -not God, Being or Truth, and even not Reality -assert itself as the most important reference point to comprehend human condition, although the world-concept became far more problematic than in the past In cosmological perspective world is neither exclusively nature nor exclusively ideal guidance, but pragmatic-cosmopolitan world, i.e. a pervasive "in-between position", which causes a constitutive imbalance we have permanent to cop with. So is open the way leading to contemporary philosophical anthropology. Montaigne, Saggi
Con-textos Kantianos: International Journal of Philosophy, 2018
L’articolo commenta una interpretazione dell’antropologia pragmatica di Kant fatta da Angelo Cica... more L’articolo commenta una interpretazione dell’antropologia pragmatica di Kant fatta da Angelo Cicatello. Tale interpretazione collega antropologia e metafisica, mostrando che un’antropologia meramente antropocentrica, schiacciata sulla storia empirica e sul potere dell’uomo, e tanto fallace quanto l’antropologia fisiologica gia respinta da Kant. La chiave del collegamento e fornita dal concetto di mondo, da intendersi in senso cosmico come idea di totalita e sistema dei fini cui l’uomo si obbliga, andando oltre se stesso. Il mio commento segue questa tesi alla luce del problema dello Ubergang tra sensibile e sovrasensibile, trattato da Cicatello in altri testi. Il commento mette in evidenza che tale passaggio e impraticabile, resta solo teorico finche non si approfondisce il concetto kantiano di mondo. E mostra che la dialettica cosmologica esposta nella Critica della ragione pura e ancora l’autentico fondamento per comprendere tale concetto, anche in senso morale e antropologico.
In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology ... more In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology and anthropology in Kant's thought. Drawing the most incisive consequences both of the copernican revolution and Colombo's discovery, Kant's cosmological anthropology reveals to be the modern uneasy mundana sapientia, and let us thoroughly understand the pregnant meaning of the historiographic topos "man and world". World -not God, Being or Truth, and even not Reality -assert itself as the most important reference point to comprehend human condition, although the world-concept became far more problematic than in the past In cosmological perspective world is neither exclusively nature nor exclusively ideal guidance, but pragmatic-cosmopolitan world, i.e. a pervasive "in-between position", which causes a constitutive imbalance we have permanent to cop with. So is open the way leading to contemporary philosophical anthropology.
One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. Th... more One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. The former indicates a universal deontological ideal; the latter a selective set of personal and social virtues. Kant is a champion of Enlightenment but inherits various aspects of the humanistic tradition that began at the end of the fourteenth century. This tradition, which largely coincides with the so-called Hofliteratur, eclectically combines elements of ancient and Christian ethics and adds a strong pedagogical, aesthetic and socio-political trait to outline a secular morality of self-government. After briefly presenting the Enlightenment "humanist family", the article examines some figures of the humanistic tradition present in Kantian ethics: the Weltbürger, self-improvement and humanitas. Through them I show the substantial role of education, taste and social interplay. They converge in the sphere of pragmatic anthropology, the moment morals become involved in the dramatic theatre of the world with its dialectic and rhetoric of appearance. Here the ethics of the imperative intersect with ethics as prudence and the art of living. Rational freedom intersects with the contingency of reality and the inscrutability of the psyche. Morality becomes more impure, but also richer and more suited to take up the challenge of being human.
One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. Th... more One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. The former indicates a universal deontological ideal; the latter a selective set of personal and social virtues. Kant is a champion of Enlightenment but inherits various aspects of the humanistic tradition that began at the end of the fourteenth century. This tradition, which largely coincides with the so-called Hofliteratur, eclectically combines elements of ancient and Christian ethics and adds a strong pedagogical, aesthetic and socio-political trait to outline a secular morality of self-government. After briefly presenting the Enlightenment “humanist family”, the article examines some figures of the humanistic tradition present in Kantian ethics: the Weltbürger, self-improvement and humanitas. Through them I show the substantial role of education, taste and social interplay. They converge in the sphere of pragmatic anthropology, the moment morals become involved in the dramatic theatre...
The essay discusses the genealogy of the human being proposed by Carmine di Martino. This genealo... more The essay discusses the genealogy of the human being proposed by Carmine di Martino. This genealogy applies phenomenology to anthropological "autobiography", that is, to the natural history of man written by the sciences. The reference to the autobiographical and evolutionary account of ourselves is red in the essay as a kind of Bildungsroman, the novel of formation or "coming-of-age story" that tells how one becomes a person, overcoming the conflict between the individual and society, nature and freedom. Through this comparison considerations are made on the difference between scientific anthropology and philosophical anthropology regarding how we became ourselves. In this context some critical remarks on Di Martino's genealogy are outlined and in particular on the absolute primacy of language to understand human phenomena.
The article starts from the thesis that the concept of humanity is one of the few capable of prov... more The article starts from the thesis that the concept of humanity is one of the few capable of providing an overall orientation in contemporary reality. If this is true, then it is necessary to renew the humanism. To this aim, a brief reconstruction of modern humanism and its predominant anthropological model is proposed: a model of human ambiguity and finitude, which includes contradictory characters and is, therefore, far from triumphant or pacifying. On the basis of this model, the shortcomings of post-humanist positions are highlighted, which do not fully grasp human finitude. Finally, related to this finitude, the paper deploys a "methodological conservatism", that is, the need to recognize the dark and archaic sides of human nature. It is precisely thanks to such uncomfortable recognition that the ideals of Enlightenment humanism can be realistically preserved.
If the notion of “humanism” is controversial, then the figure of the humanist, person working in ... more If the notion of “humanism” is controversial, then the figure of the humanist, person working in the field of humanities, is equally controversial. It is nonetheless possible to find key concepts that join ancient and modern humanism and help understand the humanist’s role in society. They are the centrality of the human condition, the foundation of purely human values, the keeping of human inscrutability, the need to link virtues and knowledge, knowledge and life. The first part of the paper shows these key concepts in the earlier Humanism, highlighting both similarities and differences between Humanism and Enlightenment. The second part examines contemporary humanist associations. These are helpful for studying the nature of humanism and highlighting the fact that being humanist is never just an intellectual activity, an ordinary job, but a choice of life, a reflective way of using knowledge to improve oneself and human cohabitation. It is a way to learn, to teach, to show tangibl...
In a renowned essay, Odo Marquard’s set a cornerstone in defining anthropology from a history of ... more In a renowned essay, Odo Marquard’s set a cornerstone in defining anthropology from a history of concepts point of view. In the light of more recent researches, some of his conclusions are here reconsidered and criticised. The concept of anthropology, as developed by Herder, Kant, Wilhelm von Humboldt, romantic philosophers and physicians, and finally by Hegel and some of his followers, offers no evidence for Marquard’s alleged opposition between anthropology and philosophy of history. On the one side, in Kant’s or Hegel’s work anthropology is not as peripheral as Marquard argued; on the other side, romantic anthropologists developed a deep interest towards historical perspectives. Rather, anthropology was quite often considered as a nonmetaphysical alternative to psychology. These results also suggest a revision as to the role of anthropology on a broader historical scale. 1. Philosophical Anthropology in the history of concepts With his essay Zur Geschichte des philosophischen Beg...
... L'uso che Canetti fa delle sue «fon-ti» e la sua stessa scrittura protesa a stanare e me... more ... L'uso che Canetti fa delle sue «fon-ti» e la sua stessa scrittura protesa a stanare e mettere sotto gli occhi la no-stra più cruda realtà, inducono a fare simili domande ea fare un passo in-dietro per capire il suo «realismo» tutto figure, miti e leggende. È questo ...
In questi ultimi anni, con l’incalzare della globalizzazione, della rivoluzione digitale, della b... more In questi ultimi anni, con l’incalzare della globalizzazione, della rivoluzione digitale, della bioingegneria, dell’automazione, dell’intelligenza artificiale e altro ancora, l’essere umano è stato sottoposto a molteplici sollecitazioni che ne stanno “muovendo” il profilo. I confini di ciò che sarebbe proprio dell’uomo sono in vario modo messi in discussione. In tale contesto diviene necessaria, perfino urgente, una ricognizione del concetto di umanità, con uno sguardo il più possibile ampio, impegnato con i diversi fronti delle sfide in corso. È questo il tentativo del presente volume: contribuire a una riflessione sistematica sul complesso di problemi racchiusi nell’antica e nuova questione dell’identità umana.
In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology ... more In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology and anthropology in Kant's thought. Drawing the most incisive consequences both of the copernican revolution and Colombo's discovery, Kant's cosmological anthropology reveals to be the modern uneasy mundana sapientia, and let us thoroughly understand the pregnant meaning of the historiographic topos "man and world". World -not God, Being or Truth, and even not Reality -assert itself as the most important reference point to comprehend human condition, although the world-concept became far more problematic than in the past In cosmological perspective world is neither exclusively nature nor exclusively ideal guidance, but pragmatic-cosmopolitan world, i.e. a pervasive "in-between position", which causes a constitutive imbalance we have permanent to cop with. So is open the way leading to contemporary philosophical anthropology. Montaigne, Saggi
Con-textos Kantianos: International Journal of Philosophy, 2018
L’articolo commenta una interpretazione dell’antropologia pragmatica di Kant fatta da Angelo Cica... more L’articolo commenta una interpretazione dell’antropologia pragmatica di Kant fatta da Angelo Cicatello. Tale interpretazione collega antropologia e metafisica, mostrando che un’antropologia meramente antropocentrica, schiacciata sulla storia empirica e sul potere dell’uomo, e tanto fallace quanto l’antropologia fisiologica gia respinta da Kant. La chiave del collegamento e fornita dal concetto di mondo, da intendersi in senso cosmico come idea di totalita e sistema dei fini cui l’uomo si obbliga, andando oltre se stesso. Il mio commento segue questa tesi alla luce del problema dello Ubergang tra sensibile e sovrasensibile, trattato da Cicatello in altri testi. Il commento mette in evidenza che tale passaggio e impraticabile, resta solo teorico finche non si approfondisce il concetto kantiano di mondo. E mostra che la dialettica cosmologica esposta nella Critica della ragione pura e ancora l’autentico fondamento per comprendere tale concetto, anche in senso morale e antropologico.
In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology ... more In spite of current interpretations, this essay investigates the intimate link between cosmology and anthropology in Kant's thought. Drawing the most incisive consequences both of the copernican revolution and Colombo's discovery, Kant's cosmological anthropology reveals to be the modern uneasy mundana sapientia, and let us thoroughly understand the pregnant meaning of the historiographic topos "man and world". World -not God, Being or Truth, and even not Reality -assert itself as the most important reference point to comprehend human condition, although the world-concept became far more problematic than in the past In cosmological perspective world is neither exclusively nature nor exclusively ideal guidance, but pragmatic-cosmopolitan world, i.e. a pervasive "in-between position", which causes a constitutive imbalance we have permanent to cop with. So is open the way leading to contemporary philosophical anthropology.
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