Abstract

Abbagnano clearly belongs to the first rank of European philosophers. He is an existentialist concerned primarily with the category of "the possible." He outlines his basic ideas in several essays, "What is Existentialism?" and "Existentialism is a Positive Philosophy," in which the distinctive character of "the possible" is related to other existentialistic notions. Other essays deal with "Faith, Philosophy, Religion," "Science and Freedom," "Experience and Metaphysics," "The Method of Philosophy." What makes the volume so very attractive to the American reader is the editor's introduction. Mr. Languilli, in seventy pages, places Abbagnano in the proper context of European philosophy, and traces his intellectual development within the unique Italian academic environment.--W. A. J.