Giovanni Gentile and the State of Contemporary Constructivism

A Study of Actual Idealist Moral Theory

von James Wakefield

200 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Recent moral philosophers have had little to say about Giovanni Gentile's 'actual idealism', which is widely dismissed as a kind of obscurantist Hegelianism used to conceal flimsy justifications for the state's total impunity over questions of morality and truth. While Gentile is increasingly recognised as a major figure in twentieth-century Italian culture, actual idealism itself has yet to be given a full and impartial philosophical appraisal.Giovanni Gentile and the State of Contemporary Constructivism represents the first book-length treatment of actual idealist moral theory. Part I describes and criticises Gentile's stated view, showing that it includes several ambiguities that he exploits in order to align it with Fascist totalitarianism. Part II develops a modified version that is more consistent with the basic tenets of actual idealism.It is argued that Gentile's theory is best understood as a radical constructivist doctrine according to which all thinking has a moral character. Rigorously conceived, it promotes not uncritical submission to the state, but free and self-regulating thought in the absence of a fully objective reality. Thus Gentile demonstrates both the plausibility and the limitations of any uncompromising form of anti-realist constructivism.

• Themen: Philosophie und Religion Philosophie Themen der Philosophie Ethik und Moralphilosophie
• ISBN: 9781845407643
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 01.02.2015
• Größe: 240 x 156 mm
• Verlag: Imprint Academic