Over the ages,Italian philosophy had a vast influence onWestern philosophy, beginning with theGreeks andRomans, and going ontoRenaissance humanism, theAge of Enlightenment andmodern philosophy.^[1] Philosophy was brought to Italy byPythagoras, founder of the school of philosophy inCrotone,Magna Graecia.^[2] Major philosophers of Magna Graecia includeParmenides,Zeno,Empedocles andGorgias. Roman philosophers includeCicero,Lucretius,Seneca the Younger,Musonius Rufus,Plutarch,Epictetus,Marcus Aurelius,Clement of Alexandria,Sextus Empiricus,Alexander of Aphrodisias,Plotinus,Porphyry,Iamblichus,Augustine of Hippo,Philoponus of Alexandria andBoethius.

Italian Medieval philosophy was mainly Christian, and included philosophers and theologians such as StThomas Aquinas, the foremost classical proponent ofnatural theology and the father ofThomism, who reintroducedAristotelian philosophy to Christianity.^[3] Notable Renaissance philosophers include:Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the western world;Marsilio Ficino, one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the period; andNiccolò Machiavelli, one of the main founders of modernpolitical science. Italy was also affected by theEnlightenment. University cities such as Padua, Bologna and Naples remained centres of scholarship and the intellect, with several philosophers such asGiambattista Vico (widely regarded as being the founder of modern Italian philosophy)^[4] andAntonio Genovesi.Cesare Beccaria was a significant Enlightenment figure and is now considered one of the fathers ofclassical criminal theory as well as modernpenology.

Italy also had a renowned philosophical movement in the 1800s, withIdealism,Sensism andEmpiricism. The main Sensist Italian philosophers wereMelchiorre Gioja andGian Domenico Romagnosi. Criticism of the Sensist movement came from other philosophers such asPasquale Galluppi.Antonio Rosmini, instead, was the founder ofItalian idealism. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, there were also several other movements which gained some form of popularity in Italy, such asOntologism (whose main philosopher wasVincenzo Gioberti),^[5]anarchism, communism, socialism, futurism, fascism and Christian democracy.Giovanni Gentile andBenedetto Croce were two of the most significant 20th-century Idealist philosophers.Antonio Gramsci remains a relevant philosopher within Marxist and communist theory, credited with creating the theory ofcultural hegemony. Italian philosophers were also influential in the development of the non-Marxistliberal socialism philosophy, includingCarlo Rosselli,Norberto Bobbio,Piero Gobetti andAldo Capitini. In the 1960s, many Italian left-wing activists adopted theanti-authoritarian pro-working class leftist theories that would become known asautonomism andoperaismo.^[6]

EarlyItalian feminists includeSibilla Aleramo,Alaide Gualberta Beccari, andAnna Maria Mozzoni, though proto-feminist philosophies had previously been touched upon by earlier Italian writers such asChristine de Pizan,Moderata Fonte, andLucrezia Marinella. Italian physician and educatorMaria Montessori is credited with the creation of thephilosophy of education that bears her name, an educational philosophy now practiced throughout the world.^[7]Giuseppe Peano was one of the inspirers of analytic philosophy and contemporary philosophy of mathematics. Recent analytic philosophers includeCarlo Penco,Gloria Origgi,Pieranna Garavaso andLuciano Floridi.

Philosophy was brought to Italy byPythagoras, founder of the school of philosophy inCrotone,Magna Graecia.^[2] Major philosophers of the Greek period includeParmenides,Zeno,Empedocles andGorgias.

Parmenides has been considered the founder ofontology ormetaphysics and has influenced the whole history ofWestern philosophy.^[8] His single known work, a poem later titledOn Nature, has survived only in fragments. Approximately 160 verses remain today from an original total that was probably near 800.^[8] The poem was originally divided into three parts: An introductory proem which explains the purpose of the work, a former section known as "The Way of Truth" (aletheia, ἀλήθεια), and a latter section known as "The Way of Appearance/Opinion" (doxa, δόξα).

Empedocles' philosophy is best known for originating thecosmogonic theory of the fourclassical elements.^[9] Empedocles is considered the last Greek philosopher to write in verse. There is a debate^[10] about whether the surviving fragments of his teaching should be attributed to two separate poems, "Purifications" and "On Nature", with different subject matter, or whether they may all derive from one poem with two titles,^[11] or whether one title refers to part of the whole poem. Some scholars argue that the title "Purifications" refers to the first part of a larger work called (as a whole) "On Nature".^[12]

Gorgias, along withProtagoras, forms the first generation ofSophists. "Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions from the audience and give impromptu replies."^[13] He has been called "Gorgias theNihilist" although the degree to which this epithet adequately describes his philosophy is controversial.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Ancient Roman philosophy was heavily influenced bythe ancient Greeks and the schools ofHellenistic philosophy; however, unique developments in philosophical schools of thought occurred during the Roman period as well. Interest in philosophy was first excited at Rome in 155 BC, by an Athenian embassy consisting of theAcademic skepticCarneades, theStoicDiogenes of Babylon, and thePeripateticCritolaus.^[18]

During this timeAthens declined as an intellectual center of thought while new sites such asAlexandria andRome hosted a variety of philosophical discussion.^[19] Both leading schools of law of the Roman period, theSabinian and theProculean Schools, drew their ethical views from readings on the Stoics and Epicureans respectively,^[20] allowing for the competition between thought to manifest in a new field in Rome's jurisprudence. It was during this period that a common tradition of the western philosophical literature was born in commenting on the works of Aristotle.^[19]

There were several formidable Roman philosophers, such asCicero (106–43 BC),Lucretius (94–55 BC),Seneca (4 BC – 65 AD),Musonius Rufus (30 AD – 100 AD),Plutarch (45–120 AD),Epictetus (55–135 AD),Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD),Clement of Alexandria (150–215 AD),Alcinous (2nd century AD),Sextus Empiricus (3rd century AD),Alexander of Aphrodisias (3rd century AD),Ammonius Saccas (3rd century AD),Plotinus (205–270 AD),Porphyry (232–304 AD),Iamblichus (242–327 AD),Themistius (317–388 AD),Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD),Proclus (411–485 AD),Philoponus of Alexandria (490–570 AD),Damascius (462–540 AD),Boethius (472–524 AD), andSimplicius of Cilicia (490–560 AD).^[1]

Italian Medieval philosophy was mainly Christian, and included several important philosophers and theologians such asAnselm of Aosta. Born in 1033 inAosta, in his mid-twenties Anselm entered the Benedictine school atBec inNormandy where he came under the tutelage ofLanfranc.

In 1063 Anselm succeeded Lanfranc as prior and was consecrated abbot in 1078. Anselm held the office ofArchbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. He is famed as the originator of theontological argument for the existence of God and of thesatisfaction theory of atonement. Anselm's works are considered philosophical as well as theological since they endeavour to render Christian tenets of faith, traditionally taken as a revealed truth, as a rational system.^[21]

Among the Italian medieval philosophers who exerted the greatest influence a very important one isPeter Lombard. Born inLumellogno, in the region of Novara, Italy, Peter studied first in thecathedral school of Rheims. In 1136 he arrived in Paris with a letter of introduction fromBernard of Clairvaux to Gilduin, abbot of the house of Saint Victor, whereHugh of Saint Victor was the leading thinker.

Peter became a Master of Arts in the Parisian schools by 1143 or 1144. In 1145 he was made a canon of thecathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. By 1156, perhaps earlier, Peter was archdeacon of Paris; in 1159 he became bishop of Paris. Peter's most enduring contribution to medieval thought was theSententiae in IV libris distinctae (Four Books of Sentences, 1155–7), a systematic investigation of the whole range of questions that arise under the topic now designated ‘theology’. Often presented in modern scholarship as merely a collection of the opinions of earlier authorities on theological topics, theSententiae is now recognized as a sophisticated work that resolves major (and minor) theological issues with skill and insight. Generations of university scholars, including Thomas Aquinas, wrote commentaries on it as part of their theological education and teaching. Peter also wrote influential biblical commentaries on thePsalms and thePauline epistles (Magna glossatura).

The most important Italian medieval philosopher isSt Thomas Aquinas, the foremost classical proponent ofnatural theology and the father ofThomism. Aquinas was the student ofAlbert the Great, a brilliant Dominican experimentalist, much like the Franciscan,Roger Bacon of Oxford in the 13th century.

Aquinas reintroducedAristotelian philosophy to Christianity.^[3] He believed that there was no contradiction between faith and secular reason. He believed thatAristotle had achieved the pinnacle in the human striving for truth and thus adopted Aristotle's philosophy as a framework in constructing his theological and philosophical outlook. He was a professor at the prestigiousUniversity of Paris.

He argued that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith.^[22] He has been described as "the most influential thinker of themedieval period"^[23] and "the greatest of themedieval philosopher-theologians."^[24] His influence onWestern thought is considerable, and much ofmodern philosophy is derived from his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics,natural law,metaphysics, and political theory.

TheCatholic Church honors Thomas Aquinas as asaint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason andspeculativetheology. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, andcanon law).^[25]

Next to Aquinas ranksBonaventure, perhaps the foremost Franciscan theologian of the 13th century, whose only real rival, in terms of immediate and ultimate influence, is the ScottishDuns Scotus.

A disciple ofAlexander of Hales andJohn of La Rochelle, Bonaventure was anAugustinian, rejecting much of the Aristotelianism incorporated by his contemporary Thomas Aquinas. WhileSiger of Brabant andBoetius of Dacia, defended an Aristotle tainted withAverroism and Thomas Aquinas tried to give the Philosopher a theologically acceptable interpretation, Bonaventure moved in completely different way. Aristotle for him was an authority who must be read critically and with eyes open.

When in 1273 he gave his conferences on theHexameron, he denounced the nefarious influence of Aristotle in Theology and undertook to expound what, according to him, Christian wisdom consisted in. This Christian wisdom that he intended to expound determined the sources of his knowledge; his choice was significant, since he turned more readily toPseudo-Dionysius than to Aristotle. That is to say that he intended to construct a spiritual synthesis and not a rationally scientific work. In works such asBreviloquium orDe triplici via, Bonaventure describes theology as wisdom (sapientia) rather than science (scientia) and considers its main task to be the achievement of spiritual perfection.

TheRenaissance was an essentially Italian (Florentine) movement, and also a great period of the arts and philosophy. Among the distinctive elements of Renaissance philosophy are the revival (renaissance means "rebirth") ofclassical civilization andlearning; a partial return to the authority ofPlato overAristotle, who had come to dominate latermedieval philosophy; and, among some philosophers, enthusiasm for theoccult andHermeticism.

As with all periods, there is a wide drift of dates, reasons for categorization and boundaries. In particular, the Renaissance, more than later periods, is thought to begin in Italy with theItalian Renaissance and roll through Europe.

Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement that was a crucial component of theRenaissance, beginning inFlorence in the latter half of the 14th century, and affected most of Italy. The humanist movement developed from the rediscovery by European scholars ofLatin literary andGreek literary texts. Initially, a humanist was simply a scholar or teacher of Latin literature. By the mid-15th century humanism described a curriculum – thestudia humanitatis – consisting of grammar, rhetoric, moral philosophy, poetry, and history as studied via Latin and Greek literary authors.

Humanism offered the necessary intellectual and philological tools for the first critical analysis of texts. An early triumph oftextual criticism byLorenzo Valla revealed theDonation of Constantine to be an early medieval forgery produced in theCuria. This textual criticism created sharper controversy whenErasmus followed Valla in criticizing the accuracy of theVulgate translation of the New Testament, and promoting readings from the original Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.^[26]

Italian Renaissance humanists believed that the liberal arts (art, music, grammar, rhetoric, oratory, history, poetry, using classical texts, and the studies of all of the above) should be practiced by all levels of "richness". They also approved of self, human worth and individual dignity.They hold the belief that everything in life has a determinate nature, but man's privilege is to be able tochoose his own path.Pico della Mirandola wrote the following concerning the creation of the universe and man's place in it:

But when the work was finished, the Craftsman kept wishing that there were someone to ponder the plan of so great a work, to love its beauty, and to wonder at its vastness. Therefore, when everything was done... He finally took thought concerning the creation of man... He therefore took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus: "Neither a fixed abode nor a form that is thine alone nor any function peculiar to thyself have we given thee, Adam, to the end that according to thy longing and according to thy judgement thou mayest have and possess what abode, what form and what functions thou thyself shalt desire. The nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of law. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul's judgement, to be born into the higher forms, which are divine."^[27]

Italian culture produced the great Renaissance commentators on Aristotle'sPoetics.^[28]Giorgio Valla's 1498 Latin translation of Aristotle's text (the first to be published) was included with the 1508Aldine printing of the Greek original as part of ananthology ofRhetores graeci. There followed an ever-expanding corpus of texts on poetics in the later fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth, a phenomenon that began inItaly and spread toSpain,England, andFrance. Among the most important Renaissance works on poetics areMarco Girolamo Vida'sDe arte poetica (1527),Gian Giorgio Trissino'sLa Poetica (1529, expanded edition 1563) andPaolo Beni's commentary on Aristotle'sPoetics (1613).^[29] By the early decades of the sixteenth century, Italian versions of Aristotle'sPoetics appeared, culminating inLodovico Castelvetro's editions of 1570 and 1576. In thebaroque periodEmanuele Tesauro, with hisCannocchiale aristotelico, re-presented to the world of post-Galileanphysics Aristotle's poetic theories as the sole key to approaching thehuman sciences.^[30]

Italy was also affected by a movement called Neoplatonism, which was a movement which had a general revival of interest inClassical antiquity. Interest in Platonism was especially strong inFlorence under theMedici.

During the sessions at Florence of theCouncil of Ferrara-Florence in 1438–1445, during the failed attempts to heal theschism of the Orthodox and Catholic churches,Cosimo de' Medici and his intellectual circle had made acquaintance with the Neoplatonic philosopherGeorge Gemistos Plethon, whose discourses upon Plato and the Alexandrian mystics so fascinated the learned society of Florence that they named him the second Plato.

In 1459John Argyropoulos was lecturing on Greek language and literature at Florence, andMarsilio Ficino became his pupil. When Cosimo decided to refoundPlato's Academy at Florence, his choice to head it wasFicino, who made the classic translation ofPlato fromGreek toLatin (published in 1484), as well as a translation of a collection of Hellenistic Greek documents of theHermetic Corpus,^[31] and the writings of many of the Neoplatonists, for examplePorphyry,Iamblichus,Plotinus,et al.. Following suggestions laid out byGemistos Plethon, Ficino tried tosynthesize Christianity andPlatonism.

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was anItalian philosopher /writer, and is considered one of the most influential Italian Renaissance philosophers and one of the main founders of modernpolitical science.^[32] Machiavelli's best-known bookIl Principe contains several maxims concerning politics. Instead of the more traditional target audience of a hereditary prince, it concentrates on the possibility of a "new prince". To retain royal authority, the hereditary prince does not have to do much to keep his position, as Machiavelli states that only an "excessive force" will deprive him of his rule.^[33] By contrast, a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling: He must first stabilize his newfound power in order to build an enduring political structure. Machiavelli views that the virtues often recommended to princes actually hinder their ability to rule, thus a prince must learn to be able to act opposite said virtues in order to maintain his regime.^[34] A ruler must be concerned not only with reputation, but also must be positively willing to act immorally at the right times.

While Machiavelli has become widely popular for his work onprincipalities, his other major work,The Discourses on Livy, focused mainly onrepublican statecraft, and his recommendations for a well ordered republic. Machiavelli noted how free republics have power structures that are better than principalities. He also notes how advantageous a government by a republic could be as opposed to just a single ruler. However, Machiavelli's more controversial statements on politics can also be found even in his other works.^[35][36] For example, Machiavelli notes that sometimes extraordinary means, such as violence, can be used in re-ordering a corrupt city.^[37] In one area, he praisesRomulus, who murdered his brother and co-ruler in order to have power by himself to found the city of Rome.^[38] In a few passages he sometimes explicitly acts as an advisor of tyrants as well.^[39][40][41]

Francesco Guicciardini, Machiavelli's close friend and critic, read the book and wrote critical notes (Considerazioni) on many of the chapters. He also objected to much of Machiavelli's advice, as he thought that many of his recommendations were too violent.^[42] To this day, contemporary usage ofMachiavellian is an adjective meaning"marked by cunning, duplicty, or bad faith"^[43]. The Prince is the treatise that is most responsible for the term being brought about.^[44] To this day,Machiavellianism also remains a popular term used casually in political discussions, often as a byword for bare-knuckled political realism.^[45][46]

Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794) was one of the greatest writers of the Italian Age of Enlightenment.

Giambattista Vico, one of the greatest philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment.

Italy was also affected by the enlightenment, a movement which was a consequence of theRenaissance and changed the road of Italian philosophy.^[47] Followers of the group often met to discuss in private salons and coffeehouses, notably in the cities ofMilan, Rome andVenice. Cities with important universities such asPadua,Bologna andNaples, however, also remained great centres of scholarship and the intellect, with several philosophers such asGiambattista Vico (1668–1744) (who is widely regarded as being the founder of modern Italian philosophy)^[4] andAntonio Genovesi.^[47]

Giambattista Vico criticized the expansion and development of modernrationalism, findingCartesian analysis and other types ofreductionism impractical to human life, and he was an apologist forclassical antiquity and theRenaissance humanities, in addition to being the first expositor of the fundamentals ofsocial science and ofsemiotics. He is recognised as one of the firstCounter-Enlightenment figures in history. The LatinaphorismVerum esse ipsum factum ("truth is itself something made") coined by Vico is an early instance ofconstructivist epistemology.^[48][49] He inaugurated the modern field of thephilosophy of history, and, although the termphilosophy of history is not in his writings, Vico spoke of a "history of philosophy narrated philosophically."^[50]

Italian society also dramatically changed during the Enlightenment, with rulers such asLeopold II of Tuscany abolishing the death penalty. The church's power was significantly reduced, and it was a period of great thought and invention, with scientists such asAlessandro Volta andLuigi Galvani discovering new things and greatly contributing to Western science.^[47]Cesare Beccaria was a significant Enlightenment figure and is now considered one of the fathers ofclassical criminal theory as well as modernpenology.^[51] Beccaria is famous for hisOn Crimes and Punishments (1764), a treatise that served as one of the earliest prominent condemnations of torture and the death penalty and thus a landmark work in anti-death penalty philosophy, which was later translated into 22 languages.^[47]

Italy also had a renowned philosophical movement in the 1800s, withIdealism,Sensism andEmpiricism. The main Sensist Italian philosophers wereMelchiorre Gioja (1767–1829) andGian Domenico Romagnosi (1761–1835).^[4] Criticism of the Sensist movement came from other philosophers such asPasquale Galluppi (1770–1846), who affirmed thata priori relationships were synthetic.^[4]

With the transition from theEnlightenment toRomanticism, instead, new currents imbued with a strong religious, ideal and moralspiritualism emerged, which sought to give a cultural imprint to the historical path towardsItalian unification.^[52]Antonio Rosmini, above all, was a pioneering father ofItalian idealism. The most comprehensive view of Rosmini's philosophical standpoint is to be found in hisSistema filosofico, in which he set forth the conception of a complete encyclopaedia of the human knowable, synthetically conjoined, according to the order of ideas, in a perfectly harmonious whole. Contemplating the position of recent philosophy fromLocke toHegel, and having his eye directed to the ancient and fundamental problem of the origin, truth and certainty of our ideas, he wrote: "If philosophy is to be restored to love and respect, I think it will be necessary, in part, to return to the teachings of the ancients, and in part to give those teachings the benefit of modern methods" (Theodicy, a. 148). He examined and analysed the fact of human knowledge, and obtained the following results:

1. that the notion or idea of being or existence in general enters into, and is presupposed by, all our acquired cognitions, so that, without it, they would be impossible
2. that this idea is essentially objective, inasmuch as what is seen in it is as distinct from and opposed to the mind that sees it as the light is from the eye that looks at it
3. that it is essentially true, because being and truth are convertible terms, and because in the vision of it the mind cannot err, since error could only be committed by a judgment, and here there is no judgment, but a pure intuition affirming nothing and denying nothing
4. that by the application of this essentially objective and true idea the human being intellectually perceives, first, the animal body individually conjoined with him, and then, on occasion of the sensations produced in him not by himself, the causes of those sensations, that is, from the action felt he perceives and affirms an agent, a being, and therefore a true thing, that acts on him, and he thus gets at the external world, these are the true primitive judgments, containing
   1. the subsistence of the particular being (subject), and
   2. its essence or species as determined by the quality of the action felt from it (predicate)
5. that reflection, by separating the essence or species from the subsistence, obtains the full specific idea (universalization), and then from this, by leaving aside some of its elements, the abstract specific idea (abstraction)
6. that the mind, having reached this stage of development, can proceed to further and further abstracts, including the first principles of reasoning, the principles of the several sciences, complex ideas, groups of ideas, and so on without end
7. finally, that the same most universal idea of being, this generator and formal element of all acquired cognitions, cannot itself be acquired, but must be innate in us, implanted by God in our nature. Being, as naturally shining to our mind, must therefore be what men call the light of reason. Hence the name Rosmini gives it of ideal being; and this he laid down as the fundamental principle of all philosophy and the supreme criterion of truth and certainty. This he believed to be the teaching of St Augustine, as well as of St Thomas, of whom he was an ardent admirer and defender.

In the 19th century, there were also several other movements which gained some form of popularity in Italy, such asOntologism. The main Italian son of this philosophical movement wasVincenzo Gioberti (1801–1852),^[5] who was a priest and a metaphysician. Gioberti's writings are more important than his political career. In the general history of European philosophy they stand apart. As the speculations ofRosmini-Serbati, against which he wrote, have been called the last link added to medieval thought, so the system of Gioberti, known asOntologism, more especially in his greater and earlier works, is unrelated to other modern schools of thought. It shows a harmony with the Roman Catholic faith which causedCousin to declare that Italian philosophy was still in the bonds oftheology, and that Gioberti was no philosopher.

Method is with him a synthetic, subjective and psychological instrument. He reconstructs, as he declares, ontology, and begins with the ideal formula, the "Ens" createsex nihilo the existent. God is the only being (Ens); all other things are merely existences. God is the origin of all human knowledge (called lidea, thought), which is one and so to say identical with God himself. It is directly beheld (intuited) by reason, but in order to be of use it has to be reflected on, and this by means of language. A knowledge of being and existences (concrete, not abstract) and their mutual relations, is necessary as the beginning of philosophy.

Gioberti is in some respects aPlatonist. He identifies religion with civilization, and in his treatiseDel primato morale e civile degli Italiani arrives at the conclusion that the church is the axis on which the well-being of human life revolves. In it he affirms the idea of the supremacy of Italy, brought about by the restoration of the papacy as a moral dominion, founded on religion and public opinion. In his later works, theRinnovamento and theProtologia, he is thought by some to have shifted his ground under the influence of events.

His first work, written when he was thirty-seven, had a personal reason for its existence. A young fellow-exile and friend, Paolo Pallia, having many doubts and misgivings as to the reality of revelation and a future life, Gioberti at once set to work withLa Teorica del sovrannaturale, which was his first publication (1838). After this, philosophical treatises followed in rapid succession. TheTeorica was followed byIntroduzione allo studio della filosofia in three volumes (1839–1840). In this work he states his reasons for requiring a new method and new terminology. Here he brings out the doctrine that religion is the direct expression of the idea in this life, and is one with true civilization in history.Civilization is a conditioned mediate tendency to perfection, to which religion is the final completion if carried out; it is the end of the second cycle expressed by the second formula, the Ens redeems existences.

Essays (not published till 1846) on the lighter and more popular subjects,Del bello andDel buono, followed theIntroduzione.Del primato morale e civile degli Italiani and theProlegomeni to the same, and soon afterwards his triumphant exposure of the Jesuits,Il Gesuita moderno, no doubt hastened the transfer of rule from clerical to civil hands. It was the popularity of these semi-political works, increased by other occasional political articles, and hisRinnovamento civile d'Italia, that caused Gioberti to be welcomed with such enthusiasm on his return to his native country. All these works were perfectly orthodox, and aided in drawing the liberal clergy into the movement which has resulted since his time in the unification of Italy. The Jesuits, however, closed round the pope more firmly after his return to Rome, and in the end Gioberti's writings were placed on the Index. The remainder of his works, especiallyLa Filosofia della Rivelazione and theProlologia, give his mature views on many points.

Other Ontological philosophers includeTerenzio Mamiani (1800–1885),Luigi Ferri (1826–1895), andAusonio Franchi (1821–1895).^[4]

Augusto Vera (1813–1885) was probably the greatest Italian Hegelianist philosopher, who composed works in both French and Italian. It was during his studies, with his cousin in Paris, that he learned of philosophy and through them he acquired knowledge ofHegelianism and it culminated during the events of the 1848–49 French revolution. In England he continued his studies of Hegelian philosophy.^[53] During his years in Naples, he would maintain relationships with the Philosophical Society of Berlin, which originally consisted of Hegelians, and kept up to date with both the German and the French Hegelian literature. As a teacher, he undertook the translation of Hegel'sIntroduzione alla filosofia (Introduction to philosophy) in French.^[54]

Neo-Hegelian theories were revitalized not only by Vera but also byBertrando Spaventa (1817–1883),^[55] who reformedHegelian dialectics within the framework ofKant'stranscendentalself-consciousness, introducing other original themes from the indigenous Italian tradition, such ashistoricism.^[52]

In the mid-19th century, other Hegelians of the Risorgimento, active especially inNaples,^[56] includedde Sanctis,Fiorentino,De Meis. These were contrasted bypositivist thinkers such asPasquale Villari, or by more conservative thinkers linked toPlatonism,^[52] interested inscholastic thought that began once again to flourish, in large part in reaction against theModernism inspired by thinkers such asRené Descartes,Immanuel Kant andGeorg Hegel, whose principles were perceived to conflict with Christian dogma.^[57] This was particularly vigorous at first in Italy. "The direct initiator of theneo-Scholastic movement in Italy wasGaetano Sanseverino (1811–1865), a canon at Naples."^[58]  The influential German JesuitJoseph Kleutgen (1811–83), who taught at Rome, argued that post-Cartesian philosophy undermined Catholic theology, and that its remedy was the Aristotelian scientific method of Aquinas.^[59] From 1874 to 1891, the Accademia di San Tommaso of Rome published the reviewLa Scienza Italiana. Numerous works were produced byGiovanni Maria Cornoldi (1822–92),Giuseppe Pecci,Tommaso Maria Zigliara (1833–93),Francesco Satolli (1839–1909),Matteo Liberatore (1810–92), Alberto Barberis (1847–96), Santo Schiffini (1841–1906), Salvatore Talamo,Antonio Ballerini, Guido Mattiussi and others. The Italian writers at first laid special emphasis on the metaphysics of Scholasticism, and less on the empirical sciences or the history of philosophy.

The two main figures of nineteenth century Italianpositivism wereCarlo Cattaneo (1801–69) andRoberto Ardigò (1828–1920). Ardigò introduced the fundamental themes of European positivism into Italian culture. Influenced to a large extent bySpencer, he maintained that concrete, scientifically verifiable experiences constituted the outer limit of any philosophical theory of reality. Ardigò's "positive philosophy" was a synthesis of various philosophical and scientific theories, including positivism,evolutionism, and spiritualism. Inspired byAuguste Comte, Ardigò differed from Comte in that he considered thought more important than matter. He believed thought was dominant in every action and the result of every action, and that it disappears only in a state of general corruption. His treatiseLa psicologia come scienza positiva (1870) is an important contribution to the birth of modern European psychology, showing the influence ofDarwin andJohn Stuart Mill and proposing that psychic phenomena depend on physiological ones. His writings on pedagogy and moral philosophy (many put on theIndex by the Church) includeLa morale dei positivisti (1879), in which he argues thatmorality is independent of religion and criticizes contemporary spiritualism. In the twentieth century, positivist thinking was continued by theItalian school of criminology, particularlyCesare Lombroso (1835–1909) andEnrico Ferri (1846–1929).

Some of the most prominent philosophies and ideologies in Italy during the late 19th and 20th centuries includedanarchism,communism,socialism,futurism,fascism,idealism, andChristian democracy. Both futurism and fascism (in its original form, now often distinguished asItalian fascism) were developed in Italy at this time. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Italian Fascism was the official philosophy and ideology of the Italian government.Giovanni Gentile was one of the greatest Italian 20th-century Idealist/Fascist philosophers, who greatly supportedBenito Mussolini. He had great a number of developments within his thought and career which defined his philosophy.

• The discovery ofActual Idealism in his workTheory of the Pure Act (1903)
• The political favour he felt for the invasion ofLibya (1911) and the entry of Italy into World War I (1915)
• The dispute with Benedetto Croce over the historic inevitability of Fascism.
• His role as education minister (1923)
• His belief that Fascism could be made to be subservient to his thought and the gathering of influence through the work of such students as Ugo Spirito.

Benedetto Croce, one of the greatest Italian 20th-century Idealist philosophers, wrote that Gentile "...holds the honor of having been the most rigorous neo–Hegelian in the entire history of Western philosophy and the dishonor of having been the official philosopher of Fascism in Italy."^[60] His philosophical basis for fascism was rooted in his understanding ofontology andepistemology, in which he found vindication for the rejection ofindividualism, acceptance ofcollectivism, with thestate as the ultimate location of authority and loyalty to which the individual found in the conception of individuality no meaning outside of the state (which in turn justifiedtotalitarianism). Ultimately, Gentile foresaw a social order wherein opposites of all kinds weren't to be given sanction as existing independently from each other; that 'publicness' and 'privateness' as broad interpretations were currentlyfalse as imposed by all former kinds of Government; capitalism, communism, and that only the reciprocal totalitarian state of Corporative Syndicalism, a Fascist state, could defeat these problems made from reifying as an external that which is in fact to Gentile only a thinking reality. Whereas it was common in the philosophy of the time to see conditional subject as abstract and object as concrete, Gentile postulated the opposite, that subject was the concrete and objectification was abstraction (or rather; that what was conventionally dubbed "subject" was in fact only conditional object, and that true subject was the 'act of' being or essence above any object).

Gentile was a notable philosophical theorist of his time throughout Europe, since having developed his 'Actual Idealism' system ofIdealism, sometimes called 'Actualism.' It was especially in which his ideas put subject to the position of a transcendingtruth above positivism that garnered attention; by way that all senses about the world only take the form of ideas within one's mind in any real sense; to Gentile even the analogy between the function & location of the physical brain with the functions of the physical body were a consistent creation of the mind (and not brain; which was a creation of the mind and not the other way around). An example ofActual Idealism inTheology is the idea that although man may have invented the concept of God, it does not make God any less real in any sense possible as far as it is not presupposed to exist as abstraction and except in case qualities about what existence actually entails (i.e. being invented apart from the thinking making it) are presupposed.Benedetto Croce objected that Gentile's "pure act" is nothing other thanSchopenhauer'swill.^[61] Therefore, Gentile proposed a form of what he called 'absoluteImmanentism' in which the divine was the present conception of reality in the totality of one's individual thinking as an evolving, growing and dynamic process. Many times accused ofSolipsism, Gentile maintained his philosophy to be aHumanism that sensed the possibility of nothing beyond what was contingent; the self's human thinking, in order to communicate as immanence is to be human like oneself, made a cohesive empathy of the self-same, without an external division, and therefore not modeled as objects to one's own thinking.

Meanwhile,anarchism,communism, andsocialism, though not originating in Italy, took significant hold in Italy during the early 20th century, with the country producing numerous significant figures in anarchist, socialist, and communist thought. In addition,anarcho-communism first fully formed into its modern strain within the Italian section of theFirst International.^[62]Italian anarchists often adhered to forms ofanarcho-communism,illegalist orinsurrectionary anarchism,collectivist anarchism,anarcho-syndicalism, andplatformism. Some of the most important figures in the late 19th and 20th century anarchist movement include Italians such asErrico Malatesta,Giuseppe Fanelli,Carlo Cafiero,Alfredo M. Bonanno,Renzo Novatore,Pietro Gori,Luigi Galleani,Severino Di Giovanni,Giuseppe Ciancabilla,Luigi Fabbri,Camillo Berneri, andSacco and Vanzetti. Other Italian figures influential in both the anarchist and socialist movements includeCarlo Tresca andAndrea Costa, as well as the author, director, and intellectualPier Paolo Pasolini.Antonio Gramsci remains an important philosopher withinMarxist and communist theory, credited with creating the theory ofcultural hegemony. Italian philosophers were also influential in the development of the non-Marxistliberal socialism philosophy, includingCarlo Rosselli,Norberto Bobbio,Piero Gobetti,Aldo Capitini, andGuido Calogero;Gianni Vattimo borders this tradition, defending a "weak Marxism", as part of hispensiero debole (weak thought) take onhermeneutics. 21st centurypost-marxist philosophers includeGiorgio Agamben andAntonio Negri.In the 1960s, many Italian left-wing activists adopted theanti-authoritarian pro-working class leftist theories that would become known asautonomism andoperaismo.^[6]

Important scholars and specialists includeGiovanni Reale andEnrico Berti in Ancient philosophy;Franco Volpi and Diego Giordano in German philosophy,Umberto Eco insemiotics andnarrative theory,Maurizio Ferraris in hermeneutics and ontology.Cornelio Fabro (1911–95), made major scholarly contributions to the study of Aquinas, drawing attention to Platonic elements in Thomism (such as ‘participation’), later an emphasis for Anglican Thomists such asMascall and figures associated with theRadical Orthodoxy movement.^[63] Early and importantItalian feminists includeSibilla Aleramo,Alaide Gualberta Beccari, andAnna Maria Mozzoni, though proto-feminist philosophies had previously been touched upon by earlier Italian writers such asChristine de Pizan,Moderata Fonte,Lucrezia Marinella. The Italian physician and educatorMaria Montessori is credited with the creation of thephilosophy of education that bears her name, an educational philosophy now practiced throughout the world.^[7]

TheMontessori method of education is a system of education for children that seeks to develop natural interests and activities rather than use formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands on learning and developing real-world skills.^[64] It was developed by physicianMaria Montessori. It emphasizes independence and it views children as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a sufficiently supportive and well-prepared learning environment. The underlying philosophy can be viewed as stemming from Unfoldment Theory.^[65] It discourages some conventional measures of achievement, such as grades and tests. Montessori developed her theories in the early 20th century through scientific experimentation with her students; the method has since been used in many parts of the world, in public and private schools alike.^[66][67]

A range of practices exists under the name "Montessori", which is not trademarked. Popular elements include mixed-age classrooms, student freedom (including their choices of activity), long blocks of uninterrupted work time, specially trained teachers and prepared environment. Scientific studies^[68] regarding the Montessori method are mostly positive, with a 2017 review stating that "broad evidence" exists for its efficacy.^[69]

The Italian mathematicianGiuseppe Peano can be considered as one of the inspirers of contemporary philosophy of mathematic andanalytic philosophy above all thanks to the influence he had on the thought ofBertrand Russell.Ludovico Geymonat andFrancesco Barone also contributed to the birth of analytic philosophy in Italy by introducing the work of theVienna Circle andLogical Positivism.

Recent Italian analytic philosophers, many of whom work abroad, includeEvandro Agazzi,Francesco Berto,Claudia Bianchi,Cristina Bicchieri,Emiliano Boccardi,Roberto Casati,Annalisa Coliva,Franca D'Agostini,Maria Luisa Dalla Chiara,Mauro Dorato,Luciano Floridi,Pieranna Garavaso,Aldo Gargani,Giulio Giorello,Luca Incurvati,Lorenzo Magnani,Diego Marconi,Michela Massimi, Luca Moretti,Gloria Origgi,Carlo Penco,Marcello Pera,Eva Picardi,Gualtiero Piccinini,Stefano Predelli,Marina Sbisà,Alessandra Tanesini,Alessandro Torza,Laura Valentini,Achille Varzi, andNicla Vassallo.

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