The critique of modernity according to Giacomo Leopardi: searching a ultra-philosophy

• Grant number: 14/50220-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Books published in Brazil
• Duration: June 01, 2014 - May 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Ethics
• Principal Investigator: Olgária Chain Féres Matos
• Grantee: Olgária Chain Féres Matos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This dissertation defends the presence of philosophy in Giacomo Leopardi's work (1798-1837). By defending the idea that Leopardi is also a philosopher, it goes beyond the discussion aroused by many scholars that Leopardi is either a philosopher or a poet. This discussion contributed to reinforce the dichotomy between the poet and the philosopher and to deny the philosophical dimension in Leopardi's work. This research is based on a different orientation having the following interpretive hypothesis: I) There is a conception of system in Leopardi, opposed to the metaphysical and rationalist postulation of the philosophical tradition; II) The leopardian reflection on human unhappiness presupposes a relationship between nature and reason; III) Such relationship faces contradiction which is responsible for unhappiness; IV) There is also an ethical and political concern facing the present in Leopardi; V) His thought also expresses a refusal of the modem world because of its several anthropological degenerations: death of the great illusions, fragility of the sensitive and perceptive faculties, death of the poetic in the nature. This paper prioritizes the Zibaldone di Pensieri's (1817-1832) leopardian reflections, but it also takes into account other readings of Leopardi's work: an attempt to contradict the prevalent interpretation, full of difficulties and doubts related to Giacomo Leopardi's philosophy. Then, a phisophy concerned with the road taken by the philosophical tradition, especially the modern can be found in Leopardi’s phisophy. (AU)