Nicola Abbagnano 1901 – 1990

Nicola Abbagnano was an Italian philosopher and the principal architect of what he called positive existentialism. After early work in Naples and many years as professor at Turin, he developed a philosophy that took existence as irreducibly possibility rather than necessity and the openness of being as a ground for hope rather than for despair. His Philosophical Dictionary became the standard Italian reference work in philosophy, while his Outline of the History of Philosophy shaped Italian philosophical education for decades. He was a prolific journalist and newspaper columnist who carried philosophy into the wider Italian public sphere.