Animality and Immanence in Italian Thought

Abstract

The modern Western thought on the animal is marked by the radical Cartesian distinction, which institutes the human subject by depriving it, in this very gesture, of any animal trait. To the contrary, the Italian philosophical tradition takes a different direction, because it has always been radically anti-dualistic. In this sense the Italian tradition has been anti-Cartesian even before Descartes. This involves a completely different perspective on the animal world: whereas all Cartesians start off with a contraposition, the Italian tradition rests upon the observation of the diversity of the various animal forms of life. If the Cartesian tradition is that of dualism, the Italian tradition is that of diversity. Whereas dualism is hierarchical, the principle of diversity is “naturally” egalitarian.