Amicizie stellari: Giuseppe Rensi e Piero Martinetti

Abstract

Stellar Friendships - Giuseppe Rensi and Piero Martinetti. Giuseppe Rensi (1871-1941) and Piero Martinetti (1872-1943) are two eminent Italian philosophers of the first half of the last century. Although united by the polemical rejection of Croce’s idealistic immanentism, the two authors differ in their respective theoretical points of view. After a period of vague idealism, Rensi came to radical skepticism and materialism. In contrast, Martinetti worked out a coherent form of transcendental idealism in opposition to Gentile’s and Croce’s immanentism. This article compares the positions of the two authors in relation to morals and politics. In spite of a basic theoretical disagreement, late Martinetti and late Rensi can be seen as joined by a similar moral attitude towards contemporary events (the rise of totalitarian political regimes). Furthermore, they share a radical form of moralism and historical pessimism, which issues in a non-orthodox form of religiousness.