Piero Gobetti (born 1901 – died February1926) was a young journalist, intellectual and radical liberal. He was an exceptionally active campaigner and critic in the crisis years in Italy after the First World War and into the early years of Fascist rule.
A student of law at the University of Turin, he set up his own review Energie Nove ('New Energies') in 1919. There he promoted the cause of radical cultural and political renewal, aligning himself with the many critics of liberal parliamentary politics. Drawing upon the idealist philosophy of Benedetto Croce, Gobetti identified cultural change with a spiritual transformation that would unite public and private life. He also attached himself to causes such as educational reform and votes for women led by the independent deputy, Gaetano Salvemini.
In 1920, Gobetti was influenced by Antonio Gramsci, fellow ex-student and communist editor of the L'Ordine Nuovo ('New Order'). Gramsci was the leading intellectual during the proletarian unrest in Turin in 1919-1920 which led to the factory occupations in September 1920. Inspired by the workers' movement and Gramsci's argument that they constituted a new revolutionary subject, Gobetti gave up editing Energie Nove in order to rethink his commitments.
In 1922, he began publishing a new review, La Rivoluzione Liberale ('Liberal Revolution'). Here he expounded a distinctive version of liberalism, conceived as a philosophy of liberation rather than a party doctrine. Deeply moved by the Russian revolution, which he understood as a liberal event, Gobetti conceived the working class as the leading subject of a liberal revolution. In seeking to take over the factories and govern themselves, he argued, the workers expressed a desire for autonomy and collective freedom that could renew Italy. Liberals, Gobetti argued, should understand the term 'liberal' as adaptable to different classes and institutional arrangements other than the bourgeoisie and parliamentary democracy.
Gobetti was also highly attentive to the dangers of Mussolini's Fascist party, which entered government in October 1922. Whilst conservative liberals hoped to make temporary use of Mussolini's popularity in order to restore parliament, Gobetti recognised the tyrannical orientation of fascism. He claimed fascism represented the 'autobiography of the nation', an accretion of all the ills of Italian society. In particular, fascism continued a political tradition of compromise, absorbing political opponents rather than allowing conflict to express itself openly. Liberalism, he argued, was anti-fascist in so far as, on his account, it recognised that liberty was achieved through struggle and conflict.
For his rigid opposition to Fascism, Gobetti's review was closed down and he himself was assaulted by fascist thugs. He was beaten up in 1925 and escaped to Paris at the end of the year. He died there in February 1926.
Following his death, and despite his relatively few writings, Gobetti became a symbol of liberal anti-fascism, inspiring intellectuals such as Carlo Levi and Norberto Bobbio.
Gobetti, PieroGobetti, PieroGobetti, Piero
Croce was born in Pescasseroli in the Abruzzi region of Italy. He came from an influential and wealthy family, and was raised in a very strict Catholic environment. Around the age of 18, he turned away from Catholicism and became an atheist, remaining so for the rest of his life. In 1883, an earthquake hit his village, destroying the home he lived in. His mother, father, and only sister were all killed, while he was buried for a very long time and barely survived. After the incident, however, he inherited his family's fortune and was able to live the rest of his life in relative leisure, enabling him to devote a great deal of time to philosophy. As his fame increased, many pushed him, against his wishes, to go into politics. He was made Minister of Public Education, and later moved to the Italian Senate, a life long position. He was an open critic of Italy's particpation in World War I, feeling that it was a suicidal trade war. Though this made him initially unpopular, his reputation was restored after the war and he became a well-loved public figure and, even though he openly opposed the Fascist party, he remained so till his death in 1952.
The Philosophy of Spirit
Heavily influenced by Hegel and other German Idealists, such as Fichte, Croce produced what was called, by him, the Philosophy of Spirit. Croce was an ardent idealist, and denied any reality other than "pure concept", or simply ideas. "Pure Concept" to him are largely Plato's Ideas, and are similar to Kant's categories, there are things like quantity, quality, evolution, more or less any idea we have that can be described as a universal idea. He came to the conclusion that if all of reality was an idea, all of reality could be reduced to purely logical concepts, and most of his works from there on are expositions on logic. He rejected all forms of religion, as not logical enough, and came to view most metaphysics in the same manner. He felt that all metaphysics are simple justifications of religious ideas and not full, viable philosophical ideas. Nevertheless, he held onto his idealism.
History
Croce also held great esteem for Vico, and shared his view that history should be written by philosophers. Croce's On History sets forth the view of history as "philosophy in motion", that there is no greater "cosmic design" or ultimate plan in history, and that the "science of history" was a farce. This lead him to scorn theorists like Marx and Hegel who attempted to reduce history to a view guiding principles. He largely agrees with Rousseau, saying that history is a series of lies, where we must choose the one that seems closest to the truth.
Beauty
In his work Estheics, he set forth his theory of art. He claimed that art was more important than science or metaphysics, since only the former edifies us. He felt that all we know can be reduced to logical and imaginative knowledge. Art springs from the former, making it at its heart, pure imagery. All thought is based in part on this, and it precedes all other thought. The task of an artist is then to put forth the perfect image that they can produce for their viewer, since this is what beauty fundementally is - the formation of inward, mental images in their ideal state. Our intuition is the basis of forming these concepts within us.
Selected Bibliography
- Materialismo storico ed economia marxista, 1900
- L'Estetica come scienza dell'espressione e linguistica generale, 1902
- Logica come scienza del concetto puro, 1909
- Brevario di estetica, 1912
- Saggio sul Hegel, 1912
- Teoria e storia della storiografia, 1917
- Racconto degli racconti (first translation into Italian from Neapolitan of Giambattista Basile's Lo cunto de li cunti), 1925
- Manifesto of Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, 1 May, 1925 in La Critica - Ultimi saggi, 1935
- La poesia, 1936
- La storia come pensiero e come azione, 1938
- Il carattere della filosofia moderna, 1941
- Filosofia e storiografia, 1949
Carlo Levi (November 29, 1902 – January 4, 1975) was an Italian-Jewish painter, writer, activist, anti-fascist, and doctor.
He is best known for his book, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (Christ Stopped at Eboli), published in 1945, a memoir of his time spent in exile in Lucania, Italy, after being arrested in connection with his political activism. In 1979, the book became the basis of a movie of the same name, directed by Francesco Rosi. Lucania, now called Basilicata, is historically one of the poorest and most background regions of the impoverished Italian south. Levi's lucid, non-ideological and sympathetic description of the daily hardships experienced by the local peasants helped to propel the "Problem of the South" into national discourse after the end of the World War II.
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Early life
Levi was born in Turin, Italy to wealthy Jewish physician Ercole Levi and Annetta Treves, the daughter of Claudio Treves. He studied medicine and graduated from the University of Turin in 1924. He did not, however, practise medicine, choosing instead to become a painter and to pursue his political interests. He had become friends with Piero Gobetti while at university and this led him further into the realm of political activism.
Political activism and exile
In 1929, along with Carlo and Nello Rosselli he founded an anti-fascist movement called Giustizia e Libertà, becoming a director of the Italian branch along with Leone Ginzburg, a Russian Jew from Odessa who had emigrated with his parents to Italy.
As a result of his activism and involvement with anti-fascist movements, Levi was arrested and exiled to Aliano (Gagliano in the book), a town in a remote area of Italy called Lucania from 1935 to 1936. There he encountered a poverty almost unknown in prosperous northern Italy. While there, Levi worked on the side as one of the doctors for the villagers, although he had never practised medicine after graduating from medical school. During his exile he spent much of his time painting.
1936
After his release, he moved to France and lived there from 1939 to 1941. In 1941, he returned to Italy, and was later arrested in Florence and imprisoned in the Murate prison. He was released following Benito Mussolini's arrest and sought refuge in the Pitti Palace, where he wrote his Cristo si è fermato a Eboli.
After World War II, he moved to Rome and served for a time as the editor of the Italia libera, the publication of the Partito d'Azione, an anti-fascist organization that grew out of the republican tradition. He continued to write and paint, exhibiting in Europe and the United States. His written works include L'Orologio (The Watch) (1950), Le parole sono pietre (Words Are Stones) (1955), and Il Futuro ha un Cuore Antico (The Future has an Ancient Heart) (1956). In 1963, he was elected to the Senate as an independent on the Communist Party ticket; he was re-elected to the Senate in 1968 and served there until 1972. He died of pneumonia in Rome on January 4, 1975.
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Ha-Nålene
Han-Nålene (so plaece A-Naulène, fr: Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes) est ene comene-intité di Walonreye, el province do Hinnot; sikepieye li prumî d' djanvî1977, på rashonnaedje di Han-so-Eure, Nålene et sacwants ôtes viyaedjes.
Gn a eto
Få d' Verzi Fa d' VerziFa d' Verzi
Li faw di Verzi, (on dit eto få d' Verzi, crawieuse få, u toirtchåde hesse), e francès faux de Verzy, u hêtre tortillard, c' est ene sôre di crawieusfaw, foirt bas, ki n' vént ki dins sacwantès coines di France, d' Almagne
Han-so-Mouze
Han-so-Mouze (fr: Ham-sur-Meuse) est on viyaedje del Walonreye francesse, dilé Djivet.
Gn a eto des ôtès plaeces lomêyes Han. - Dimorants: 248 (1999)
- Limero del posse: 08600
- Depårtumint des Årdenes - Sitindêye: 61,9 faw [o.n.] åbe des nén trop tchôds payis, a lisse eschoice, a blanc bwès, ki poite des fayenes, e sincieus latén Fagus spp. On dit eto: hesse. F. hêtre. rl a: få, fayi, fawene. Disfondowes: Read More...
Motî:Frôhan Frôhan [n.pl.] hamtea di Rotchå. >> abotner Frôhan avou Rotchå. Etimolodjeye: tîxhon "Frodo-ham" (han, pré da Frodo). Disfondowes: Frôn.an , Frô.an, Fron.an.
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Frôhantî ;
Frôhinote u
Frôhantres
