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Marcello Pera | |
|---|---|
 Marcello Pera in 2022 | |
| President of the Senate of the Republic | |
| In office 30 May 2001 – 27 April 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Nicola Mancino |
| Succeeded by | Franco Marini |
| Member of theSenate of the Republic | |
| Assumed office 13 October 2022 | |
| Constituency | Sassari |
| In office 9 May 1996 – 14 March 2013 | |
| Constituency | Lucca (1996–2006) Emilia-Romagna (2006–2008) Lazio (2008–2013) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1943-01-28)28 January 1943 (age 82) Lucca,Kingdom of Italy |
| Political party | FdI (since 2022) |
| Other political affiliations | PSI (until 1994) FI (1994–2009) PdL (2009–2013) |
| Alma mater | University of Pisa |
| Profession | Philosopher Politician |
Marcello Pera (Italian pronunciation:[marˈtʃɛlloˈpɛːra,-e-];[1] born 28 January 1943) is an Italianphilosopher andpolitician. He was the president of theItalian Senate from 2001 to 2006.[2]
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Pera was born inLucca,[2] and graduated inaccounting. He worked for the Banca Toscana and for theCamera di Commercio in Lucca. He went on to studyphilosophy at theUniversity of Pisa, concentrating on the works ofKarl Popper and hisopen society theory, and advocating these principles during the difficult 1970s, theanni di piombo.
His academic career began in 1976 at the University of Pisa. He then went on to pursue research activities internationally:Fulbright scholar, University of Pittsburgh, 1984; Linguistics and Philosophy,MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1990; visiting fellow, Centre for the Philosophy of Natural Sciences, London School of Economics, 1995–96. He taught theoretical philosophy from 1989 to 1992 at theUniversity of Catania. In 1992, he became a full professor of philosophy at the University of Pisa.
Pera has written for the newspapersCorriere della Sera,Il Messaggero, andLa Stampa, as well as for the news magazinesL'Espresso andPanorama. Pera has become a leading opponent ofpost-modernism andcultural relativism and on this subject, he resonates with religious thinkers. Opposing cultural relativism, he declared, "There are good reasons for deeming that some institutions are better than others. And I deny that such a judgment must necessarily lead to a clash."[3]
Opposing the postmodern denial of the possibility of ascertaining objective facts, he says, "Against deconstructionism, I do not deny that facts do not exist without interpretation. I refuteNietzsche's thesis that "there are no facts, only interpretations" (F. Nietzsche,Afterthoughts); orDerrida's "there is nothing beyond the text" (J. Derrida,Of Grammatology)."[3]
He was elected as a Senator forForza Italia in1996 and2001.[2] During the XIV Legislature, he was President of the Senate from May 30 to April 27, 2006.[4] He was re-elected to the Senate in2006 and2008.[2]
An atheist,[5] Pera co-authored a book with thenCardinalJoseph Ratzinger titledSenza radici ("Without Roots") and is the author of the introduction to the book originally titledL'Europa di Benedetto nella crisi delle culture, or in short,The Europe of Benedict, written by Ratzinger shortly before he became the pope. It has been reprinted asChristianity and the Crisis of Cultures.[6]
Pera's 2008 bookPerché dobbiamo dirci cristiani ("Why We Must Call Ourselves Christians") has a letter-preface by Pope Benedict XVI. Pera is a critic of the policies ofPope Francis and what he perceive as the Pope's attempts to influence Italian politics, in particular his response to theEuropean migrant crisis; he accused the Pope of demanding that European states "commit suicide".[7][8]
Malaysia : Honorary Grand Commander of theOrder of the Defender of the Realm (2003)[9]
Uruguay : Grand Cordon of theMedal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (2003)[10] | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Marcello Pera" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of the Italian Senate 2001–2006 | Succeeded by |
