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Across Italy in the nineteenth century, a generation of intellectuals engaged with Hegel's philosophy while actively participating in Italian political life. Hegel and Italian Political Thought traces the reception and transformation of these ideas, exploring how Hegelian concepts were reworked into political practices by Italians who had participated in the 1848 revolution, who would lead the new Italian State after unification, and who would continue to play a central role in Italian politics until the end of the century. Fernanda Gallo investigates the particular features of Italian Hegelianism, demonstrating how intellectuals insisted on the historical and political dimension of Hegel's idealism. Set apart from the broader European reception, these thinkers presented a critical Hegelianism closer to practice than ideas, to history than metaphysics. This study challenges conventional hierarchies in the study of Italian political thought, exploring how the ideas of Hegel acquired newfound political power when brought into connection with their specific historical context.
List of contents
Introduction: Hegel from the Margins; 1. The Vico-Effect; 2. The Renaissance; 3. The Risorgimento; 4. The Ethical State; 5. Hegelians in Charge; Epilogue: The Hegelian Tradition of Political Thought in Italy; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Fernanda Gallo is an Associate Professor in History and Politics at Homerton College, University of Cambridge. She specialises in Italy and the Mediterranean in the long nineteenth century, German Idealism, and historical conceptions of Europe. Previous publications include Dalla Patria allo Stato: Bertrando Spaventa, una biografia intellettuale (2013).
Summary
Across Italy in the nineteenth century, a generation of intellectuals engaged with Hegel's philosophy while actively participating in Italian political life. This study investigates the reception and transformation of Hegel's political thought in nineteenth-century Italy, and explores how Hegelian ideas acquired meaning in these contexts.
Foreword
Explores the meaning of Hegelian ideas for a generation of Italian intellectuals who also participated in political life.
