Giovanni Gentile Quotes on Knowledge
Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944), the Italian neo-Hegelian whose The Theory of Mind as Pure Act (1916) and the earlier Reform of Hegelian Dialectic (1913) gave early-twentieth-century Italian idealism its most rigorous philosophical statement, defended the doctrine of "actual idealism" (attualismo) according to which the only ultimate reality is the pure act of thinking in its present self-actualization. Knowledge for Gentile is therefore not the relation of a subject to a pre-given object but the very self-positing of mind in which the apparent duality of subject and object is constituted within and resolved by the unitary act. Gentile's later collaboration with the Mussolini regime, for which he served as Minister of Public Instruction and theorist of the corporate state, complicates the subsequent reception of the philosophical work.
Quotes
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Attributed to Giovanni Gentile:
“Education is the formation of the act of thought itself.”
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“The Fascist, on the other hand, conceives philosophy as a philosophy of practice (”praxis”). That concept was the product of certain Marxist and Sorellian inspirations (many Fascists and the Duce , himself, received their first intellectual education in the school of Marx and Sorel)—as well as the influence of contemporary Italian idealistic doctrines from which Fascist mentality drew substance and achieved maturity.”
The Philosophy of Fascism,” first published in English in the Spectator , November 1928, pp. 36-37. Reprinted in Origins and Doctrine of Fascism , A. James Gregor , translator and editor, Transaction Publishers (2003) p. 33 -
“The Fascist, on the other hand, conceives philosophy as a philosophy of practice (”praxis”). That concept was the product of certain Marxist and Sorellian inspirations (many Fascists and the Duce , himself, received their first intellectual education in the school of Marx and Sorel)—as well as the influence of contemporary Italian idealistic doctrines from which Fascist mentality drew substance an”
The Philosophy of Fascism,” first published in English in the Spectator , November 1928, pp. 36-37. Reprinted in Origins and Doctrine of Fascism , A. James Gregor , translator and editor, Transaction Publishers (2003) p. 33 -
“It is necessary to distinguish between socialism and socialism—in fact, between idea and idea of the same socialist conception, in order to distinguish among them those that are inimical to Fascism. It is well known that Sorellian syndicalism , out of which the thought and the political method of Fascism emerged—conceived itself the genuine interpretation of Marxist communism. The dynamic concepti”
Che cosa è il fascismo: Discorsi e polemiche (“What is Fascism?”), Florence: Vallecchi, (1925) pp. 42-45, 47-48, 49-51, 56, Origins and Doctrine of Fascism , A. James Gregor , translator and editor, Transaction Publishers, 2003, p. 59 -
“Of which liberalism does one wish to speak? I distinguish two principal forms of liberalism . For one… liberty is a right; for the other a duty. For one it is a gift; for the other a conquest… One liberalism conceives liberty rooted in the individual, and therefore opposes the individual to the State, a State understood as possessing no intrinsic value—but exclusively serving the well being and th”
Che cosa è il fascismo: Discorsi e polemiche (“What is Fascism?”), Florence: Vallecchi, (1925) pp. 42-45, 47-48, 49-51, 56, Origins and Doctrine of Fascism , A. James Gregor , translator and editor, Transaction Publishers, 2003, p. 63 -
“Che cosa è il fascismo: Discorsi e polemiche (“What is Fascism?”), Florence: Vallecchi, (1925) pp. 13-16”
In the Renaissance there is much light, yes, and there is much in it with which Italians may share national pride. But there is much darkness. For the Renaissance is also the age of individualism , that through the splendid visions of poetry and art brought the Italian nation to the indifference, skepticism, and distracted cynicism of those who have nothing to defend, not in their family, their Fa