Giovanni Gentile and the State of Contemporary Constructivism

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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.
Sep 1, 2017

Source: Kantian Review

Credit: Sebastian Orlander

"[A] welcome contribution to contemporary moral philosophy... [this] book points to a very interesting, and in this reviewer's opinion important, avenue for further investigation of metaethical constructivism in post-Kantian idealism... [Wakefield] makes it clear that one can read Gentile in line with contemporary constructivists, and that [Gentile's] engagement with Kantian and Hegelian idealism gives the historical background for alternatives to the preponderance of constructivism grounded almost exclusively on Kantian considerations."

Dec 1, 2019

Source: Cum–scientia. Per l'unità nel dialogo

Credit: University of Bari,Antonio Lombardi

"This is certainly a work of a high calibre… [It] constitutes an important testament to the attention that Gentile has received, and continues to receive, outside Italy… For this and other reasons [the book] merits close attention, and we hope that it will be widely read and will encourage others to reflect on the legacy that [Gentile] has left us."
Paperback
- Publication Date: 01 February 2015
- ISBN-13: 9781845407643
- Product Content: Text (eye-readable)
- Extent: Main content page count : 200
- Code: 9781845407643
- Dimensions: 15.6 x 23.4 x 1.5 cm
- Weight: 350 grams
- Packaging Type: No outer packaging
- List Price: £19.95
- ONIX Version 2.1, Version 3

Details

Title: Giovanni Gentile and the State of Contemporary Constructivism
Subtitle: A Study of Actual Idealist Moral Theory
Author: James Wakefield
Language: English
Publisher: Imprint Academic
Imprint: Imprint Academic

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