On the aims of the journal and the nature of the present volume.

This is the introductionary talk to the Workshop "Comparative History of Philosophy", held at the University of Milano on June 9, 2017. I present Giulio Preti's view about historiography of philosophy, with a focus on two major themes: continuity versus discontinuity in history of philosophy and autonomy versus eteronomy of philosophy.

This introductory essay provides an extensive overview of Giambattista Vico's (1668-1744) empiricist approach to philosophy in contrast to the rationalist view of René Descartes (1596-1650). Vico's approach is reflected in many of the major works of the last quarter of the 20th century, e.g., George Lakoff.

This paper seeks to explore the relevance of Gianni Vattimo’s philosophy for the contemporary discussion concerning the nature and task of philosophy. First of all, an orientation to the question will be given through a review of the sense of crisis that has arisen in recent years concerning the task of philosophy with particular reference to the anti-metaphysical mood characteristic of postmodern philosophy. The paper will then give a presentation of Vattimo’s understanding of metaphysics, explain his reasons for rejecting metaphysics and sketch his proposed response of an ‘ontology of actuality’. The critical section of the paper will argue that the crisis in philosophy is that of the spirit of modernity with its dialectic of autonomous freedom and autonomous science. An account of the limits of philosophy will be offered in terms of the character of theoretical thought which will provide a platform to assess Vattimo’s proposal for a postmetaphysical philosophy. In conclusion some comments will be made regarding the conference theme of ‘order’.

Gianfrancesco II Pico della Mirandola, Duke of Mirandola and Count of Concordia, is a sixteenth-century philosopher, theologian, poet, and political figure, attributable to the Savonarolan movement of the Piagnoni. He is often referred to as one of the first Renaissance intellectuals to rediscover Sextus Empiricus and employ Pyrrhonian skepticism in their philosophical treatises. He is also known as the official biographer of friar Girolamo Savonarola, and as the biographer/ editor of his uncle, Giovanni II Pico della Mirandola. His philosophical and religious views, in continuous dialogue between humanist curiosity and Savonarolan devotion, characterize him as a fierce antagonist of the numerous attempts at finding concord between ancient and early modern forms of knowledge and belief pursued at the time.

Back in vogue today is the tendency of Italian philosophy toward reflection on itself that has always characterized an important part of our historiographical tradition. The present essay firstly analyzes the various interpretative positions in respect to the legitimacy, the risks, and the benefits of such a discourse, which intends to distinguish the different traditions of thought by resorting to a criterion of territorial or national kind. Secondly, the essay examines diverse paradigms that identify – in “precursory genius”; in ethical and civil vocation; and in “living thought” – the distinctive hallmark of the Italian philosophical tradition from the Renaissance to today.