Philosophical Premises

Taken from Il ritorno alla ragione (1946), this late essay marks a further decisive break between de Ruggiero and Croce. Drawing on Nietzsche, de Ruggiero argues that nineteenth-century German historicism resulted in disengagement from and indeed ambivalence with respect to the present. He goes on to argue that while Croce's more sophisticated version of historicism provided a valuable bulwark against the encroachments of 'irrationalism' in the Fascist period, it also encouraged the rejection of the idea of any permanent, universal values whatsoever. Against Croce's objections, de Ruggiero argues that the best insights of historicism should be incorporated into a return to Enlightenment reason and a 'moving synthesis' of immanence and transcendence.