Nicola Abbagnano

Abbagnano, Nicola 

Born July 15, 1901. Italian idealist philosopher.

A professor at the University of Turin, Abbagnano is the founder of so-called positive existentialism, which attempts to combine existentialist ideas with elements of neopositivism. On this basis and also with the aid of the “universal” formula of the “possibility of the possible,” Abbagnano tried to create an optimistic version of existentialism. In his opinion, the individual can always choose from various possibilities one which would be the basis of a “healthy and stable existence.” Eclecticism and ethical formalism have doomed Abbagnano’s attempt. In recent years, Abbagnano has moved further away from the problems of existentialism, concentrating on such areas as the theory of knowledge and sociology.

WORKS

La struttura dell’esistenza. Turin, 1939.
Introduzione all’esistenzialismo. Turin, 1947.
Filosofia, religione, scienza. Turin, 1947.
L’esistenzialismo positivo. Turin, 1948.
Possibilita e liberta. Turin, 1956.
Problemi di sociología. Turin, 1959.
Scritti scelti. Turin, 1967.

REFERENCES

Efirov, S. A. Ital’ianskii “pozitivnyi ekzistentsializm.” In Sovremennyi ekzistentsializm. Moscow, 1966.
Efirov, S. A. Ital’ianskaia burzhuaznaia filosofiia XX v. Moscow, 1968.
Giannini, G. L’esistenzialismo positivo di N. Abbagnano. Brescia, 1956.
Santucci, A. Esistenzialismo e filosofiia italiana, 2nd ed. Bologna, 1967.

S. A. EFIROV