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Neglected History: Giulio Preti, the Italian Philosophy of Science, and the Neo-Kantian Tradition

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Part of the book series: The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective ((PSEP,volume 4))

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Abstract

This paper offers a brief survey of the influence of Kantian and neo-Kantian philosophy on Italian philosophy of science. At the core of the story stands Giulio Preti, a former disciple of Antonio Banfi who offered a sophisticated version of the relativized a priori embracing the historical knowledge too.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Antonio Aliotta, La reazione idealistica contro la scienza. Palermo: Optima 1912 (English translation: The Idealistic Reaction against Science, translated by Agnes McCaskill, London: Mac Millan 1914).

  2. 2.

    A very good survey is offered by Friedrich Stadler, “History of Philosophy of Science. From ‘Wissenschaftslogik (Logic of Science)’ to Philosophy of Science: Europe and America, 1930-1960”, in: Theo Kuipers, Dov M. Gabbay, Paul Thagard and John Woods (Eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Science: General Philosophy of Science – Focal Issues. Amsterdam: Elsevier B.V. 2007, pp. 577-658.

  3. 3.

    See Carlo Cantoni Emanuele Kant, vol. I, La filosofia teoretica. Milano: Brigola 1879; vol. II, La filosofia pratica (morale, diritto, politica). Milano: Brigola 1883 and vol. III, La filosofia religiosa, la Critica del Giudizio e le dottrine minori. Milano: Hoepli 1884. Tocco’s main contributions on Kant’s philosophy are collected in his volume Studi Kantiani, Palermo: Sandron 1909.

  4. 4.

    Felice Tocco, “Del passaggio dalla metafisica della natura alla fisica”, in: Kantstudien 2, 1898, pp. 66-89. This paper is also available in: Studi kantiani, op. cit., pp. 213-227.

  5. 5.

    A very useful analysis of this review and a collection of the most important articles published there is available in: Patrizia Guarnieri, La “Rivista Filosofica” (1899-1908). Conoscenza e valori nel neokantismo italiano. Firenze: La Nuova Italia 1981.

  6. 6.

    For an overview of Italian philosophy of science during the 20th century see Fabio Minazzi and Luigi Zanzi (Eds.), La scienza tra filosofia e storia in Italia nel Novecento. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato 1987; Evandro Agazzi (Ed.), La filosofia della scienza in Italia nel ‘900. Milano: Franco Angeli 1986. A critical evaluation of some leading figures is offered by Paolo Parrini, Filosofia e scienza nell’Italia del Novecento. Figure, correnti, battaglie. Milano: Guerini e Associati 2004.

  7. 7.

    Rudolf Carnap, Hans Hahn, Otto Neurath, Wissenschaftliche Weltauffassung. Wien: Artur Wolf Verlag 1929, p. 13. Trans. “The Scientific Conception of the World. The Vienna Circle”, in: Otto Neurath, Empiricism and Sociology (ed. by Marie Neurath and Robert S. Cohen), Dordrecht: Reidel, 1973, p. 304.

  8. 8.

    Giuseppe Peano, Opere scelte. Roma: Edizioni Cremonese, 3 vols., 1957–1959. See also Giulio Giorello (Ed.), L’immagine della scienza. Milano: Il Saggiatore 1977.

  9. 9.

    See Logic and Pragmatism. Selected Essays by Giovanni Vailati, translated by Claudia Arrighi, ed. by Claudia Arrighi, Paola Cantù, Mauro De Zan and Patrick Suppes, Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications 2010.

  10. 10.

    Giovanni Vailati, “On the Logical Import of the Classification of Mental Facts Proposed by Franz Brentano” (1900), in: Selected Essays by Giovanni Vailati, op. cit., pp. 107-112. See also Giovanni Vailati, Scritti. Firenze: Seeber & Barth 1911, pp. 455, 557, 936.

  11. 11.

    See Federigo Enriques, Problemi della scienza. Bologna: Zanichelli 1906, 2nd ed. 1909 (English translation Problems of Science, translated by Katharine Royce, with an introductory note by Josiah Royce, London-Chicago: Open Court 1914). Concerning this book and its reception within the philosophy of science in the early 20th century I allow myself to refer to: Massimo Ferrari, Non solo idealismo. Filosofi e filosofie in Italia tra Ottocento e Novecento. Firenze: Le Lettere 2006, pp. 205-252.

  12. 12.

    Enriques, Problemi della scienza, op. cit., pp. 19-20.

  13. 13.

    Federigo Enriques, La théorie de la connaissance scientifique de Kant à nos jours. Paris: Hermann 1938.

  14. 14.

    See the documentation offered by Michael Stöltzner, “Federigo Enriques e l’Enciclopedia neurathiana”, in: Rivista di storia della filosofia 54, 1998, pp. 463-494.

  15. 15.

    See Maria Luisa Dalla Chiara (Ed.), Italian Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Dordrecht-Boston: Reidel 1981.

  16. 16.

    One of the most important works of Geymonat is the book Filosofia e filosofia della scienza. Milano: Feltrinelli 1960, in which Geymonat endorses in agreement with Enriques an historical view of scientific theories. Geymonat’s contribution to the diffusion of philosophy of science in Italy is documented in some pioneer works such as La nuova filosofia della natura in Germania. Torino: Bocca 1934 and especially Studi per un nuovo razionalismo. Torino: Chiantore 1945.

  17. 17.

    See Antonio Banfi, Principi di una teoria della ragione. Torino-Milano: Paravia 1926, 3rd ed. Roma: Editori Riuniti 1967.

  18. 18.

    Ibid., pp. 99-145. See also Antonio Banfi, “Per un razionalismo critico” (1943), in: Antonio Banfi, La ricerca della realtà. Firenze: Sansoni 1959, vol. I, pp. 45-100. Banfi’s studies on Galileo are well documented in: Antonio Banfi, Vita di Galileo Galilei. Milano-Roma: La cultura 1930, 2nd ed. Milano: Feltrinelli 1962 and Antonio Banfi, Galileo Galilei. Milano: Ambrosiana 1949, 2nd ed. Milano: Il Saggiatore 1961.

  19. 19.

    On Banfi’s philosophical activity as editor of Studi filosofici see Eugenio Garin, Intellettuali italiani del XX secolo. Roma: Editori Riuniti 1974, pp. 241-264. To keep in mind is also Banfi’s short but important article “Appunti per una metodologia critica”, in: Analisi 1, 1945, pp. 25-35 (also published in: Banfi, La ricerca della realtà, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 191-201).

  20. 20.

    Giulio Preti, “Il mio punto di vista empiristico” (1958), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, edited by Mario Dal Pra, Firenze: La Nuova Italia 1976, vol. I, p. 486. On Preti’s philosophical development and his philosophy see Fabio Minazzi, Giulio Preti: bibliografia. Milano: Franco Angeli 1984; Mario Dal Pra, Studi sull’empirismo logico di Giulio Preti. Napoli: Bibliopolis 1988; P.L. Lecis, Filosofia, scienza, valori: il trascendentalismo critico di Giulio Preti. Napoli: Morano 1989; Fabio Minazzi (Ed.), Il pensiero di Giulio Preti nella cultura filosofica del Novecento. Milano: Franco Angeli 1990; Paolo Parrini and Luca M. Scarantino, (Eds.), Il pensiero filosofico di Giulio Preti. Milano: Guerini e Associati 2004; Luca M. Scarantino, Giulio Preti. La costruzione della filosofia come scienza sociale. Milano: Bruno Mondadori 2007.

  21. 21.

    See for example Preti’s programmatic article “Il razionalismo contemporaneo”, in: Inventario 3, 1949, pp. 108-117.

  22. 22.

    Preti, “Le tre fasi dell’empirismo logico“ (1954), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, p. 296.

  23. 23.

    Preti, “Dewey e la filosofia della scienza” (1951), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, p. 86.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., p. 96.

  25. 25.

    Preti, “Linguaggio comune e linguaggi scientifici“ (1953), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 208-209.

  26. 26.

    Preti, “Il linguaggio della filosofia” (1962), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, p. 462.

  27. 27.

    Preti, “L’ontologia della regione «natura» nella fisica newtoniana” (1957), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, p. 416.

  28. 28.

    Preti, “Due orientamenti nell’epistemologia” (1950), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 54, 76.

  29. 29.

    Preti, “Il mio punto di vista empiristico”, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 493-495. See also Preti, Morale e metamorale. Saggi filosofici inediti, edited by E. Migliorini, Milano: Franco Angeli 1989, p. 91.

  30. 30.

    We refer obviously to Michael Friedman, Dynamics of Reason. The 1999 Kant Lectures at Stanford University. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications 2000.

  31. 31.

    See Parrini, Knowledge and Reality. An Essay in Positive Philosophy. Dordrecht: Kluwer 1998 and L’empirismo logico. Aspetti storici e prospettive teoriche. Roma: Carocci, 2002.

  32. 32.

    See Preti, Praxis ed empirismo. Torino: Einaudi 1957; new edition with a Preface by Salvatore Veca and an Afterword by Fabio Minazzi, Milano: Bruno Mondadori 2007 (I quote from this last edition).

  33. 33.

    Ibid., p. 124.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., p. 123.

  35. 35.

    Ibid., pp. 125-126.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., pp. 126-127.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., p. 127.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., pp. 128-129.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., p. 130. It is noteworthy that Preti approaches the problem of historical knowledge in terms that are quite near to the typical neo-Kantian solution, in particular in the sense of Heinrich Rickert and, to some extent, of Max Weber. Preti was well acquainted with this perspective, nevertheless he quotes in this context neither Rickert nor Weber.

  40. 40.

    Ibid., p. 134.

  41. 41.

    Ibid., p. 138.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., pp. 147-148.

  43. 43.

    Preti, “L’ontologia della regione «natura» nella fisica newtoniana” (1957), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. I, p. 420.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., p. 434.

  45. 45.

    Preti, “Continuità e discontinuità nella storia della filosofia” (1951), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. II, p. 233.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., p. 237.

  47. 47.

    Ibid., pp. 237-238.

  48. 48.

    Preti, “Continuità ed «essenze» nella storia della filosofia” (1956), in: Giulio Preti, Saggi filosofici, op. cit., vol. II, p. 249.

  49. 49.

    Preti, “Il mio punto di vista empiristico”, op. cit., p. 484.

  50. 50.

    Preti, “Continuità ed «essenze» nella storia della filosofia”, op. cit., p. 248.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., p. 250.

  52. 52.

    Preti, Lezioni di filosofia della scienza (1965-1966), edited by Fabio Minazzi, Milano: Franco Angeli 1989, p. 153 n. 16.

  53. 53.

    See also Scarantino, Giulio Preti. La costruzione della filosofia come scienza sociale, op. cit., p. 303.

  54. 54.

    See Parrini, Filosofia e scienza nell’Italia del Novecento, op. cit., p. 199.

  55. 55.

    See Preti, Écrits philosophiques. Les Lumières du rationalisme italien, textes choisis et presentés par Luca M. Scarantino, préface per Jean Petitot, Paris: Cerf 2002. Contributions on Preti’s philosophy have been also published in: Diogène, n. 216, octobre-décembre 2006. In his recent talk “Is there a European Philosophy of Science?” delivered at the International Conference “Philosophy of Science in Europe – European Philosophy of Science and the Viennese Heritage” (Vienna, Dec. 7, 2011), Gereon Wolters has drawn the attention to the work of “the very interesting Italian philosopher of science Giulio Preti (1911-1972), to whom we owe among other things a fascinating pragmatist and cultural embedding of philosophy of science”. Wolters rightly apologizes that “unfortunately, not a line seems to have been translated into English” (p. 11: quoted from the manuscript by kind permission of the author). We are in fully agreement with Wolters’s lamentatio against the globalized parochialism of Anglophone philosophy of science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Via S. Ottavio 20, 10124, Torino, Italy

    Massimo Ferrari

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  1. Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 1520, Aarhus, 8000, Denmark

    Hanne Andersen

  2. Inst. History & Foundations of Science, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 6, Utrecht, 3584 CD, Netherlands

    Dennis Dieks

  3. , Faculty of Humanities, University of A Coruña, Dr. Vazquez Cabrera street, w/n, Ferrol, 15.403, Spain

    Wenceslao J. Gonzalez

  4. , Philosophy School of Social Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom

    Thomas Uebel

  5. Centre Artificial Intelligence (CENTRA), Department of Computer Science, New University of Lisbon, Monte de Caparica, Lisbon, 2829-516, Portugal

    Gregory Wheeler

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Ferrari, M. (2013). Neglected History: Giulio Preti, the Italian Philosophy of Science, and the Neo-Kantian Tradition. In: Andersen, H., Dieks, D., Gonzalez, W., Uebel, T., Wheeler, G. (eds) New Challenges to Philosophy of Science. The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5845-2_33

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