Andrea Oppo | Pontificia Facoltà Teologica della Sardegna (original) (raw)
Papers by Andrea Oppo
Materiali di Estetica, 2024
At the beginning of one of his best-known works, Iconostasis (Ikonostas, 1922), Pavel Florensky t... more At the beginning of one of his best-known works, Iconostasis (Ikonostas, 1922), Pavel Florensky takes the example of dreams which, both in their activity and content, have a reversed time and space compared to those of waking life. This idea becomes a strong epistemic basis that Florensky employs to explain his personal paradigm of discontinuous science. In the same years (1918-1924), he also developed a philosophical theory of art that was based on the same concepts. Florensky sees art as an extension of science, that is, as a possibility of grasping in a scientific way that which the Galilean and Newtonian space-time model is unable to consider. Through the example of dream, this article aims to explain the true meaning of art which, according to Florensky, goes far beyond a question of autonomous truth of taste – which he never really considers – to finally arrive at a superior scientific truth, which Florensky names «original atomism» and «authentic realism». The latter reveal, within a multi-perspective paradigm, a more complex reality than we normally take into consideration.
Theologica & Historica XXXII, 2023
Il filosofo e scienziato Pavel A. Florenskij (1882-1937) ha sempre manifestato un grande intere... more Il filosofo e scienziato Pavel A. Florenskij (1882-1937) ha sempre manifestato un grande interesse verso la letteratura ed è stato egli stesso autore di poesie e opere biografiche. Nei suoi gusti letterari così come nella sua formazione personale, tuttavia, i romanzi di Dostoevskij – come dichiarò apertamente – “non avevano mai trovato posto”. Nonostante ciò, nei suoi scritti filosofici si trovano numerose citazioni delle opere di Dostoevskij e questa presenza rivela, quasi in modo negativo, un significato molto più rilevante della mera espressione del proprio rifiuto. Dostoevskij sembra rappresentare una “antitesi” rispetto all'universo interiore di Florenskij. Ma, proprio per il modo in cui quell'universo è costruito, si tratta di un'antitesi “necessaria”. In questo articolo, che esamina le principali occorrenze dostoevskiane negli scritti di Florenskij, viene esplorato il significato ambivalente di questa relazione. Per molti versi, è un significato che, estendendosi ben oltre una questione privata di gusti, tendenze e poetiche, rivela da ultimo una questione universale: vale a dire, la contraddizione stessa tra una visione dell'armonia trascendente del mondo e la percezione del suo caos immanente.
The philosopher and scientist Pavel A. Florensky (1882-1937) has always manifested a great deal of interest in literature and was himself the author of poems and biographical works. Among his literary tastes as well as in his personal formation, however, the novels of Dostoevsky – as he openly declared – “had never found a place.” In spite of all this, numerous quotations from Dostoevsky’s works occur in his philosophical writings and this presence reveals, as if it were in a negative way, a much more relevant meaning than the mere affirmation of his dislike. Dostoevsky seems to represent an “antithesis” to Florensky’s universe of thought, but precisely because of the way that universe is constructed it is a “necessary” antithesis. In this article, which examines the main Dostoevskian occurrences in Florensky’s writings, the ambivalent meaning of this relationship is explored. In many ways, it is a meaning that, extending far beyond a private matter of tastes, tendencies and poetics, finally reveals a universal question: the contradiction itself between the view of the world’s transcendent harmony and the perception of its immanent chaos.
in Dostoevsky's "The Gambler": The Allure of the Wheel (S. Evdokimova, ed.), 2024
This extraordinary volume, the first critical work devoted entirely to Dostoevsky's The Gambler, ... more This extraordinary volume, the first critical work devoted entirely to Dostoevsky's The Gambler, explores the novel and its author from a variety of perspectives and contexts. Medical, aesthetic, psychological, sociological, religious, philosophical, cultural, biographical, musical, and ethical concerns all come into play in this important collection of original essays by a group of accomplished critics and thinkers from a variety of fields. Svetlana Evdokimova's introduction, 'Dancing on the Feet of Chance' unpacks and elucidates a wealth of approaches and insights. The other contributors succeed in matching the impeccably high standard she has set for inquiry into Dostoevsky, his strange novel, and its risk-filled creation. This book, dedicated to Robert Louis Jackson, reprints his classic 'Polina and Lady Luck in Dostoevsky's The Gambler.'"
Studies in East European Thought, 2023
The critical studies on Dostoevsky’s ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ have never diverged to a ver... more The critical studies on Dostoevsky’s ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ have never diverged to a very great extent from the two interpretative lines developed many years ago by Mikhail Bakhtin and Nikolai Berdyaev, which concern, on the one hand, the Menippean satirical structure of this short story and, on the other, its general motif of ‘utopia vs. anti-utopia.’ Although these two views are unquestionably enlightening, mainly because they reflect Dostoevsky’s poetics from the 1870s, they still do not seem to have fully considered the central problem the ridiculous man raises throughout his monologue. This problem concerns the main character’s fundamental quest for truth. This article offers a reading of Dostoevsky’s story, with a new interpretation of it that does not exclude but, in fact, extends Bakhtin’s and Berdyaev’s views. While the purpose of the Menippean satire is, as Bakhtin suggested, to test an idea, in ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ Dostoevsky examines three different ideas of ‘truth’ each of which correspond to the protagonist’s various stages of awareness that occur in the three main parts of the narrative: before, during, and after the dream. These ideas are: a nihilistic solipsism of a higher consciousness; the natural perfection of a pantheistic universe; and the primacy of life over thought. The result of this analysis leads to the philosophical problem of ‘difference,’ understood as a ‘transcendent difference’ à la Fichte, which offers a new insight into Dostoevsky’s ‘higher realism.’
Leiden-Boston: Brill, pp. 124-146, 2022
Along with the crisis in the nineteenth-century ideals of egalitarianism, the early twentiech-cen... more Along with the crisis in the nineteenth-century ideals of egalitarianism, the early twentiech-century Russian reception of Nietzsche also elicited a negative reaction to a certain model of morality that was, for the most part, linked to Greek intellectualism and Socratic morality. As a result, a whole—and at times hidden—range of “anti-Socratic” sentiments and views spread among those authors who, in various ways and with differing conclusions, lauded Nietzsche’s critique of conventional values while comparing this critique to the Russian tradition of moral rebellion. Aside from the so-called vulgar “Nietzscheanism” (Nitssheanstvo)—i.e. a desire, which was very popular among students, for personal fulfillment and for the destruction of moral standards in the wake of Nietzsche, as divulged in Boborykin’s novels—another response to Nietzsche’s thought emerged, which considered with great seriousness the possibility of developing a new philosophical and moral consciousness, a sort of “virtuous anti-morality” that was in keeping with Nietzsche’s precepts and, often implicitly, at odds with Socrates. Among the Russian thinkers who adopted this viewpoint in the early years of the twentieth century were, above all, L. Shestov, V. Ivanov, A. Blok, and D. Merezhkovsky. This article will explore these “anti-Socratic” Russian attitudes, in particular from a philosophical point of view, i.e. starting from the claim that another morality and another “virtuous code” that differ widely from Socratic intellectualism are equally valid.
![Research paper thumbnail of П.А. Флоренский и Ф.М. Достоевский: необходимая антитеза [Florensky and Dostoevsky: A Necessary Antithesis]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/101512314/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Dostoevsky Studies, Vol. 25, pp. 53-72, 2022
Философ и учёный Павел Александрович Флоренский (1882-1937) всегда проявлял большой интерес к лит... more Философ и учёный Павел Александрович Флоренский (1882-1937) всегда проявлял большой интерес к литературе, более того его перу принадлежит ряд стихов и биографических трудов. Однако произведения Ф.М. Достоевского, «никогда не находили места» в его внутреннем мире, - так неоднократно заявлял сам Флоренский. Несмотря на это, в трудах мыслителя присутствуют многочисленные цитаты из произведений Достоевского, что говорит о чем-то большем, чем о простом неприятии идей писателя. Достоевский в творчестве Флоренского скорее играет роль негативной динамической силы. Русский писатель представляет собой «антитезу» вселенной Флоренского, но именно в силу того, как устроена эта вселенная, он является «необходимой» антитезой. В данной статье, рассматриваются наиболее важные упоминания имени Достоевского в произведениях Флоренского, исследуется амбивалентный смысл отношения двух мыслителей. Как мы увидим, этот смысл, выходя далеко за пределы частного вопроса вкусов, склонностей и поэтики, в конце концов раскрывает универсальную проблему: противоречие между видением трансцендентной гармонии мира и восприятием имманентно присущего ему хаоса.
The philosopher and scientist Pavel A. Florensky (1882-1937) has always manifested a great deal of interest in literature and was himself the author of poems and biographical works. Among his literary tastes as well as in his personal formation, however, the novels of Dostoevsky – as he openly declared – “had never found a place.” In spite of all this, numerous quotations from Dostoevsky’s works occur in his philosophical writings and this presence reveals, as if it were in a negative way, a much more relevant meaning than the mere affirmation of his dislike. Dostoevsky seems to represent an “antithesis” to Florensky’s universe of thought, but precisely because of the way that universe is constructed it is a “necessary” antithesis. In this article, which examines the main Dostoevskian occurrences in Florensky’s writings, the ambivalent meaning of this relationship is explored. In many ways, it is a meaning that, extending far beyond a private matter of tastes, tendencies and poetics, finally reveals a universal question: the contradiction itself between the view of the world’s transcendent harmony and the perception of its immanent chaos.
Russian Literature, 2022
Discontinuity (preryvnost’ / прерывность) is a pivotal concept in Pavel Floren- skii’s philosoph... more Discontinuity (preryvnost’ / прерывность) is a pivotal concept in Pavel Floren-
skii’s philosophy and theory of knowledge. He utilises it in many fields and subjects:
mathematics, physics, semiotics, aesthetics, theology, and literature. Florenskii’s uni-
verse is a “discontinuous double” in which an earthly and natural state of things is opposed to an upper-world that is ruled by different geometrical laws and is know-
able only by abstraction. In between there is always a threshold (a symbol, an “icon”)
that connects the two. The general intent of this article is, on the one hand, to give an
indication of the main directions of the concept of discontinuity within Florenskii’s
works and, on the other hand, to highlight its relevance for a “philosophy of culture”
and for a “philosophy of the symbolic forms”, but also – as Florenskii puts it – for a
specific understanding of the “Russian mind”. The article also devotes a section to the
literary aspects of Florenskii’s concept of discontinuity (less explored by Florenskii
scholarship and perhaps by the author himself), which involve among other things a
reading of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and an original and ambitious attempt of interpreting
physical space in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Theologica et Historica (vol. 29), 2020
Questo articolo prende in considerazione il tema dell’origine metafisica del male nei "Saggi di t... more Questo articolo prende in considerazione il tema dell’origine metafisica
del male nei "Saggi di teodicea" di Leibniz e cerca di stabilire che rapporto vi sia tra la tesi classica assunta dall’autore, quella della “privazione dell’essere”, e il sistema dell’Armonia prestabilita che costituisce l’asse portante dell’argomentazione proposta nell’opera. Il risultato di questa analisi sembra essere la scarsa rilevanza della tesi privativa all’interno del sistema leibniziano. Leibniz recupera e integra con opportune distinzioni l’idea agostiniana dell’origine del male come privatio entis in un modo funzionale al suo discorso, ma sempre ponendo l’accento sulla razionalità delle scelte di Dio e sul Suo concorso come “sostanza attiva” in queste scelte – anche quando queste ultime hanno a che fare con la presenza del male nel mondo – piuttosto che sull’analisi della natura del male in sé, come fanno per esempio, seppure in modi molto diversi, Tommaso e Kant.
[This article investigates the metaphysical origin of evil in Leibniz’s "Theodicy" within the relationship between the classical thesis assumed by the author, that of the “privation of being”, and his system of the pre-established Harmony, which represents the backbone for his argument in the work. The result of this analysis points out the scarce relevance of the thesis within the Leibnizian system. Leibniz recovers and integrates with appropriate distinctions the Augustinian idea of the origin of evil as privatio entis in a way that is functional to his theory, albeit always emphasising the rationality of God’s choices and His participation as an “active substance” in these choices – even when the latter have to do with the presence of evil in the world – rather than highlighting the nature of evil itself, as Thomas Aquinas and Kant do, albeit in very different ways.]
Solov'evskie Issledovaniya, 2021
The issue of the existence of a peculiarly «Russian» philosophy has long been the object of many ... more The issue of the existence of a peculiarly «Russian» philosophy has long been the object of many debates, which soon led to very different and often opposite conclusions. The question is always the same: Is there an original contribution that Russian authors made to philosophy, in the same way as with literature, arts, and sciences? What happened to Greek/Western philosophy when cultivated in «Russian soil»? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to first carry out a brief examination of the never-obvious issue of «what being a philosopher means», i.e. of what generally distinguishes an intellectual who claims to be a «philosopher» from other kinds of intellectuals or scholars. After this short but necessary premise, this article will try to sum up some of the classic and modern definitions of Russian philosophy (from Chaadaev to Evlampiev) and conclude by proposing a personal idea about an overarching frame of Russian philosophical thought. In my opinion, the latter mostly originates from a peculiar reception in Russia of Platonism, Idealism and Marxism that ultimately transformed those views, especially during the Silver Age, into a sort of «integral gnoseology», which connects «logos» and «life» in a specifically dialectical way that can be described, pour cause, as «Russian».
Il rapporto della filologia con i testi filosofici (o, in un senso ancora più estremo, con quelli... more Il rapporto della filologia con i testi filosofici (o, in un senso ancora più estremo, con quelli scientifici) è meno diretto o decisivo rispetto alla maniera nella quale questa disciplina opera con i testi letterari o, più in generale, con qualunque testo cosiddetto “canonico” (testi sacri, giuridici, testi dal forte valore storico o archeologico). La questione riguardante un simile privilegio della filologia per certi testi rispetto ad altri è a un tempo banale ma anche fortemente problematica.
Solov'evskie Issledovaniya (1.65), pp. 79-90, 2020
На материале статьи Льва Шестова 1927 года «Умозрение и апокалипсис (Религиозная философия Вл. Со... more На материале статьи Льва Шестова 1927 года «Умозрение и апокалипсис (Религиозная философия Вл. Соловьева)» рассматривается противоречивое отношение к воззрениям Владимира Соловьева. Несмотря на резко критическое отношение Шестова к идеям Соловьева и объективные различия, существующие между двумя философами, которых едва ли можно сравнивать, прослеживается возможность конструктивного диалога между ними. Идеи Л. Шестова и Вл. Соловьева рассматриваются в рамках концепции «русской идеи» Н. Бердяева. Утверждается, что, в соответствии с предлагаемой Н. Бердяевым и А. Лосевым интерпретацией обоих авторов, идеи Соловьева и Шестова в своем высшем смысле сходятся в эсхатологическом видении правды этого мира, а также в фундаментальном недоверии западному эпистемологическому мировоззрению.
(This article explores the controversial relationship Lev Shestov had with the thought of Vladimir Solovyov basing mostly on the main writing that he dedicated to him, i.e. the 1927 article «Speculation and Apocalypse. The Religious Philosophy of Vl. Solovyov». However harshly critical Shestov’s reading of Solovyov was, and considering also the objective difference between the two philosophers who can hardly be compared the one to the other, there is still a margin for a positive confrontation between their respective works. This is given by the larger frame of N. Berdyaev’s concept of «Russian idea», within which their thought can be inscribed in a way that Shestov himself had actually anticipated at the end of his essay on Solovyov. In this respect, as is suggested by an interpretation of the two authors offered by N. Berdyaev and A. Losev, the ultimate meaning of both Solovyov’s and Shestov’s thought would converge in an eschatological view towards the truth of this world as well as in the fundamental mistrust towards the Western epistemic worldview)
"Theologica & Historica" (XXVII), pp. 101-112, 2018
This paper examines the concept of “faith” within Russian religious philosophy of the 19th and ea... more This paper examines the concept of “faith” within Russian religious philosophy of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular reference to Chaadaev, Khomyakov, Kireevsky, Dostoevsky, Solovyov and Berdyaev, among others, and their dialectical relationship with the Western world. Russian religious thought, in fact, has always highlighted the concept of faith in a peculiar way, i.e. as a faith per se, as the way in which one believes, rather than the object of belief itself. Even the long-lasting dispute between Westernisers and Slavophiles – or the later opposition between the Russian Intelligentsia and religious philosophy – can be said to demonstrate the existence of a specific “Russian idea”, which resides in the identification of a unitary vision of the world and of a fusion of philosophy and life, of science and faith (Berdyaev).
What is the real problem underlying Florensky’s challenge to Western art? Why, in re-discussing t... more What is the real problem underlying Florensky’s challenge to Western art? Why, in re-discussing the status of image in the twentieth century, is he so determined to hark back to a theological issue that arises from the Early Middle Ages? In dealing with problems such as “nature vs. reality,” “truth vs. illusion,” “reverse perspective vs. linear perspective,” not only does the Russian philosopher put the icon back at the heart of the modern aesthetic reflection but he also proposes a specific, transfigured, and finally “realistic” conception of the physical world. This article will investigate the Florenskian critique of naturalistic art in the light of the so-called “iconic view” and it will try to better determine the real point of the opposition he makes between the concepts of “naturalism” and “realism,” being the latter an integral and more authentic view of the world. Florensky’s realism is, as will be finally demonstrated in this essay, a “theory of the two worlds,” within a paradigm of a fundamental discontinuity of the whole reality. These two worlds can be recognized and kept together only by means of a third part, i.e. an abstraction – albeit given by a concrete element – that finally provides a wider symbolic way of knowledge. This is what he calls a “concrete metaphysics.”
Тезисы
Андреа Оппо
"Опрокидывание Натурализма: Эстетический реализм Павла Флоренского"
В чем заключается истинная суть критики, которой Флоренский подвергал западное искусство? Почему, заново трактуя статус образа в двадцатом столетии, он с такой непреклонностью возвращается к богословскому вопросу, уходящему корнями в раннее Средневековье? Касаясь таких тем как «природа и реальность», «истина и иллюзия», «обратная перспектива и линейная перспектива», русский философ не только вновь помещает икону в самую сердцевину современной эстетической мысли, но также предлагает особую, преображенную, и в итоге «реалистическую» концепцию физического мира. В данной статье рассматривается критика Флоренским естественного искусства в свете так называемого «иконического взгляда» и делается попытку более точно определить истинный предмет противопоставления, которое он делает между идеями «натурализма» и «реализма», из которых вторая представляет собой целостный и более аутентичный взгляд на мир. Реализм Флоренского, как показано в статье, представляет собой «теорию двух миров» в пределах парадигмы фундаментальной прерывности реальности. Эти два мира могут быть распознаны и связаны друг с другом только посредством некой третьей части, т.е. абстракции С, хотя и заданной конкретным элементом С, которая в итоге предлагает более широкое символическое познание. Флоренский называет это «конкретной метафизикой».
"In this chapter, Andrea Oppo examines the border between philosophy and literature, framing his ... more "In this chapter, Andrea Oppo examines the border between philosophy and literature, framing his reading of Lewis Carroll using Deleuze’s analysis in The Logic of Sense, arguing that the border between philosophy and literature must be explored in the context of language, meaning, and reference. The contrasting perspectives of objectivity and subjectivity, where meaning is relational, is one way of conceptualizing this borderland; Deleuze conceives of this border as the contrast between surface and depth. Oppo argues that sense has a dynamic structure where inside and outside are entangled, as in a Mobius strip, and that this structure reveals that all sense is rooted in nonsense. The author finally suggests the fragility of sense, as it constantly ‘stutters’ and threatens to fall into the abyss of nonsense."
![Research paper thumbnail of L'apocalisse interiore della storia. A cento anni dalla Rivoluzione russa (1917-2017) [The Inner Apocalypse of History. For the Centenary of Russian Revolution (1917-2017)], «Munera. Rivista europea di cultura», 3/2017, pp. 29-39](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55268748/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](![Research paper thumbnail of Se la misura di un corpo è un numero immaginario. Florenskij e il concetto di spazio in Dante [When the Measure of a Body Is an Imaginary Number. Florensky on Dante's Concept of Space], in "Theologica & Historica" XXIV (2015), pp. 171-183](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/39223372/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](In uno scritto del 1922, partendo da una concezione eretica dei numeri complessi, Pavel Florenski... more In uno scritto del 1922, partendo da una concezione eretica dei numeri complessi, Pavel Florenskij interpreta lo spazio nella Divina Commedia, basandosi su Inferno XXXIV, come conformato a una geometria ellittica non euclidea, secondo il modello kleiniano. Successivamente, nello stesso scritto, il matematico e filosofo russo integra una simile concezione della superficie su cui si muovono Dante e Virgilio con un modello fisico di spazio e tempo mutuato dalla teoria della relatività di Einstein. Si assiste così a uno dei tentativi più originali e ambiziosi mai compiuti di lettura della Divina Commedia ad opera di un autore geniale e poliedrico, quale era Florenskij, capace di unire nel XX secolo, senza soluzione di continuità e in un unico paradigma conoscitivo, discipline come matematica, fisica, letteratura, filosofia e teologia. Questo articolo analizza la lettura di Dante da parte di Florenskij sia da un punto di vista teoretico che da un punto di vista linguistico, per mostrare infine come questo piccolo testo possa rappresentare a buon diritto un passaggio chiave nella comprensione dell’intera concezione filosofica del pensatore russo.
Starting from a ‘heretic’ conception of imaginary numbers, in a text of 1922 Pavel Florenskij interprets the idea of space in Dante’s Divine Comedy (basing on Hell XXXIV) as conformed to a non-Euclidean and elliptic geometry, according to a Kleinian model. Successively, in the same article, Florenskij merges such a conception of the surface (where Dante and Virgilius move) to a physic model of space and time he draws from Einstein’s theory of relativity. The result is one of the most original and ambitious attempts ever made of reading the Divine Comedy. Its author, Florenskij, was a genial intellectual, capable of joining together in a single analysis subjects like mathematics, physics, literature, philosophy, and theology. This article will investigate Florenskij’s reading of Dante from both a theoretical and a linguistic point of view.
Lev Shestov’s first book, Shakespeare and His Critic Brandes (1898), seems to harbor a “secret,” ... more Lev Shestov’s first book, Shakespeare and His Critic Brandes (1898), seems to harbor a “secret,” which would explain the fact that for nearly a century this work remained virtually unknown. Defending Shakespeare against Georg Brandes’s “misguided” interpretation, Shestov seems strangely different from the person who, throughout his entire subsequent life, fiercely attacked any preaching of morality. Why did Shestov change his mind on that issue? And what position exactly did he defend in Shakespeare and His Critic Brandes that he would subsequently dismiss? These are two crucial questions that are dealt with in this article, which investigates the very beginnings of Shestov’s philosophy and offers a key to understanding how the Russian philosopher began his path toward anti-rationalism and anti-moralism.
Создается впечатление, что первая книга Льва Шестова Шекспир и его критик Брандес (1898) сокрыла в себе “секрет”, который мог бы послужить объяснением того факта, что почти на протяжении века эта книга оставалась фактически неизвестной. Защищая Шекспира от “неверного” толкования Георга Брандеса, Шестов кажется странно непохожим на человека, который на протяжении всей последующей жизни яростно нападает на любые моралистские проповеди. Почему Шестов изменил свое мнение по поводу этой темы? И какую конкретно точку зрения он защищал в книге Шекспир и его критик Брандес, отвергнув ее позже? Это два важнейших вопроса, затронутые в данной статье, которая исследует самые истоки философии Шестова и предлагает ключ к пониманию того, как русский философ начал свой путь к антирационализму и антиморализму.
This article focuses on two significant texts revealing the crisis and stalemate of narrative dur... more This article focuses on two significant texts revealing the crisis and stalemate of narrative during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Herman Melville's short tale Bartleby, The Scrivener and Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Particular attention is paid Gilles Deleuze’s and Theodor Adorno’s philosophical interpretations of these two authors. Overall, the interruption and impasse of narrative are shown to happen in two radically different ways in Melville and Beckett, leading to two equally different consequences for the definition of subjectivity in contemporary aesthetics.
![Research paper thumbnail of L’influenza di T. S. Eliot sul teatro di Jerzy Grotowski [T.S. Eliot's Influence on Grotowski's Theatre], in "Theologica & Historica" XXI, 2012, pp. 131-143](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35729245/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Raramente è stata messa in luce l’importanza che Thomas Stearns Eliot ha avuto nello sviluppo del... more Raramente è stata messa in luce l’importanza che Thomas Stearns Eliot ha avuto nello sviluppo della concezione teatrale di Jerzy Grotowski. Eppure il regista polacco, il cui lavoro teorico ha avuto un peso enorme nella teoria e nella pratica teatrale della seconda metà del Novecento, ha mostrato più volte il suo amore incondizionato per il poeta inglese e alcune prove, anche testuali, ne mostrano l’influenza diretta e decisiva. Questo articolo cercherà di affrontare i nodi cruciali della ricezione eliotiana da parte di Grotowski: in particolar modo in relazione alla figura di Cristo, così come rappresentata da Grotowski, e al simbolo oggettivo che questa incarna e che in qualche modo si pone, nella visione dell’autore polacco, alla fine del teatro stesso.
![Research paper thumbnail of "Fancy and Imagination in Coleridge. Una distinzione inattuale?" [Coleridge's Fancy and Imagination: An Outdated Distinction?], in “Theologica & Historica” XX, 2011, pp. 253-267](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35729336/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Quella tra fantasia e immaginazione è una distinzione semantico-estetica circolata tra ‘700 e ‘80... more Quella tra fantasia e immaginazione è una distinzione semantico-estetica circolata tra ‘700 e ‘800 sia nel mondo anglosassone sia in quello germanico, ma che per tante ragioni nel ‘900 è tramontata o caduta in disuso. Questo articolo si propone di ricostruire a grandi linee l’ampio dibattito critico novecentesco sulla differenza tra i due termini così come l’ha posta Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
ovvero uno dei maggiori artefici della sua diffusione nel mondo anglo-americano. In secondo luogo, si cercherà di ragionare su alcuni motivi dell’insuccesso e dell’inattualità di questa distinzione nell’estetica contemporanea e insieme proporne una più corretta collocazione nel segno di un ideale specificamente romantico, e che solo alla luce dell’identificazione tutta romantica di mito e poesia, riletta oggi in chiave ermeneutica, ha qualcosa da dire alla contemporaneità.
Materiali di Estetica, 2024
At the beginning of one of his best-known works, Iconostasis (Ikonostas, 1922), Pavel Florensky t... more At the beginning of one of his best-known works, Iconostasis (Ikonostas, 1922), Pavel Florensky takes the example of dreams which, both in their activity and content, have a reversed time and space compared to those of waking life. This idea becomes a strong epistemic basis that Florensky employs to explain his personal paradigm of discontinuous science. In the same years (1918-1924), he also developed a philosophical theory of art that was based on the same concepts. Florensky sees art as an extension of science, that is, as a possibility of grasping in a scientific way that which the Galilean and Newtonian space-time model is unable to consider. Through the example of dream, this article aims to explain the true meaning of art which, according to Florensky, goes far beyond a question of autonomous truth of taste – which he never really considers – to finally arrive at a superior scientific truth, which Florensky names «original atomism» and «authentic realism». The latter reveal, within a multi-perspective paradigm, a more complex reality than we normally take into consideration.
Theologica & Historica XXXII, 2023
Il filosofo e scienziato Pavel A. Florenskij (1882-1937) ha sempre manifestato un grande intere... more Il filosofo e scienziato Pavel A. Florenskij (1882-1937) ha sempre manifestato un grande interesse verso la letteratura ed è stato egli stesso autore di poesie e opere biografiche. Nei suoi gusti letterari così come nella sua formazione personale, tuttavia, i romanzi di Dostoevskij – come dichiarò apertamente – “non avevano mai trovato posto”. Nonostante ciò, nei suoi scritti filosofici si trovano numerose citazioni delle opere di Dostoevskij e questa presenza rivela, quasi in modo negativo, un significato molto più rilevante della mera espressione del proprio rifiuto. Dostoevskij sembra rappresentare una “antitesi” rispetto all'universo interiore di Florenskij. Ma, proprio per il modo in cui quell'universo è costruito, si tratta di un'antitesi “necessaria”. In questo articolo, che esamina le principali occorrenze dostoevskiane negli scritti di Florenskij, viene esplorato il significato ambivalente di questa relazione. Per molti versi, è un significato che, estendendosi ben oltre una questione privata di gusti, tendenze e poetiche, rivela da ultimo una questione universale: vale a dire, la contraddizione stessa tra una visione dell'armonia trascendente del mondo e la percezione del suo caos immanente.
The philosopher and scientist Pavel A. Florensky (1882-1937) has always manifested a great deal of interest in literature and was himself the author of poems and biographical works. Among his literary tastes as well as in his personal formation, however, the novels of Dostoevsky – as he openly declared – “had never found a place.” In spite of all this, numerous quotations from Dostoevsky’s works occur in his philosophical writings and this presence reveals, as if it were in a negative way, a much more relevant meaning than the mere affirmation of his dislike. Dostoevsky seems to represent an “antithesis” to Florensky’s universe of thought, but precisely because of the way that universe is constructed it is a “necessary” antithesis. In this article, which examines the main Dostoevskian occurrences in Florensky’s writings, the ambivalent meaning of this relationship is explored. In many ways, it is a meaning that, extending far beyond a private matter of tastes, tendencies and poetics, finally reveals a universal question: the contradiction itself between the view of the world’s transcendent harmony and the perception of its immanent chaos.
in Dostoevsky's "The Gambler": The Allure of the Wheel (S. Evdokimova, ed.), 2024
This extraordinary volume, the first critical work devoted entirely to Dostoevsky's The Gambler, ... more This extraordinary volume, the first critical work devoted entirely to Dostoevsky's The Gambler, explores the novel and its author from a variety of perspectives and contexts. Medical, aesthetic, psychological, sociological, religious, philosophical, cultural, biographical, musical, and ethical concerns all come into play in this important collection of original essays by a group of accomplished critics and thinkers from a variety of fields. Svetlana Evdokimova's introduction, 'Dancing on the Feet of Chance' unpacks and elucidates a wealth of approaches and insights. The other contributors succeed in matching the impeccably high standard she has set for inquiry into Dostoevsky, his strange novel, and its risk-filled creation. This book, dedicated to Robert Louis Jackson, reprints his classic 'Polina and Lady Luck in Dostoevsky's The Gambler.'"
Studies in East European Thought, 2023
The critical studies on Dostoevsky’s ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ have never diverged to a ver... more The critical studies on Dostoevsky’s ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ have never diverged to a very great extent from the two interpretative lines developed many years ago by Mikhail Bakhtin and Nikolai Berdyaev, which concern, on the one hand, the Menippean satirical structure of this short story and, on the other, its general motif of ‘utopia vs. anti-utopia.’ Although these two views are unquestionably enlightening, mainly because they reflect Dostoevsky’s poetics from the 1870s, they still do not seem to have fully considered the central problem the ridiculous man raises throughout his monologue. This problem concerns the main character’s fundamental quest for truth. This article offers a reading of Dostoevsky’s story, with a new interpretation of it that does not exclude but, in fact, extends Bakhtin’s and Berdyaev’s views. While the purpose of the Menippean satire is, as Bakhtin suggested, to test an idea, in ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ Dostoevsky examines three different ideas of ‘truth’ each of which correspond to the protagonist’s various stages of awareness that occur in the three main parts of the narrative: before, during, and after the dream. These ideas are: a nihilistic solipsism of a higher consciousness; the natural perfection of a pantheistic universe; and the primacy of life over thought. The result of this analysis leads to the philosophical problem of ‘difference,’ understood as a ‘transcendent difference’ à la Fichte, which offers a new insight into Dostoevsky’s ‘higher realism.’
Leiden-Boston: Brill, pp. 124-146, 2022
Along with the crisis in the nineteenth-century ideals of egalitarianism, the early twentiech-cen... more Along with the crisis in the nineteenth-century ideals of egalitarianism, the early twentiech-century Russian reception of Nietzsche also elicited a negative reaction to a certain model of morality that was, for the most part, linked to Greek intellectualism and Socratic morality. As a result, a whole—and at times hidden—range of “anti-Socratic” sentiments and views spread among those authors who, in various ways and with differing conclusions, lauded Nietzsche’s critique of conventional values while comparing this critique to the Russian tradition of moral rebellion. Aside from the so-called vulgar “Nietzscheanism” (Nitssheanstvo)—i.e. a desire, which was very popular among students, for personal fulfillment and for the destruction of moral standards in the wake of Nietzsche, as divulged in Boborykin’s novels—another response to Nietzsche’s thought emerged, which considered with great seriousness the possibility of developing a new philosophical and moral consciousness, a sort of “virtuous anti-morality” that was in keeping with Nietzsche’s precepts and, often implicitly, at odds with Socrates. Among the Russian thinkers who adopted this viewpoint in the early years of the twentieth century were, above all, L. Shestov, V. Ivanov, A. Blok, and D. Merezhkovsky. This article will explore these “anti-Socratic” Russian attitudes, in particular from a philosophical point of view, i.e. starting from the claim that another morality and another “virtuous code” that differ widely from Socratic intellectualism are equally valid.
Dostoevsky Studies, Vol. 25, pp. 53-72, 2022
Философ и учёный Павел Александрович Флоренский (1882-1937) всегда проявлял большой интерес к лит... more Философ и учёный Павел Александрович Флоренский (1882-1937) всегда проявлял большой интерес к литературе, более того его перу принадлежит ряд стихов и биографических трудов. Однако произведения Ф.М. Достоевского, «никогда не находили места» в его внутреннем мире, - так неоднократно заявлял сам Флоренский. Несмотря на это, в трудах мыслителя присутствуют многочисленные цитаты из произведений Достоевского, что говорит о чем-то большем, чем о простом неприятии идей писателя. Достоевский в творчестве Флоренского скорее играет роль негативной динамической силы. Русский писатель представляет собой «антитезу» вселенной Флоренского, но именно в силу того, как устроена эта вселенная, он является «необходимой» антитезой. В данной статье, рассматриваются наиболее важные упоминания имени Достоевского в произведениях Флоренского, исследуется амбивалентный смысл отношения двух мыслителей. Как мы увидим, этот смысл, выходя далеко за пределы частного вопроса вкусов, склонностей и поэтики, в конце концов раскрывает универсальную проблему: противоречие между видением трансцендентной гармонии мира и восприятием имманентно присущего ему хаоса.
The philosopher and scientist Pavel A. Florensky (1882-1937) has always manifested a great deal of interest in literature and was himself the author of poems and biographical works. Among his literary tastes as well as in his personal formation, however, the novels of Dostoevsky – as he openly declared – “had never found a place.” In spite of all this, numerous quotations from Dostoevsky’s works occur in his philosophical writings and this presence reveals, as if it were in a negative way, a much more relevant meaning than the mere affirmation of his dislike. Dostoevsky seems to represent an “antithesis” to Florensky’s universe of thought, but precisely because of the way that universe is constructed it is a “necessary” antithesis. In this article, which examines the main Dostoevskian occurrences in Florensky’s writings, the ambivalent meaning of this relationship is explored. In many ways, it is a meaning that, extending far beyond a private matter of tastes, tendencies and poetics, finally reveals a universal question: the contradiction itself between the view of the world’s transcendent harmony and the perception of its immanent chaos.
Russian Literature, 2022
Discontinuity (preryvnost’ / прерывность) is a pivotal concept in Pavel Floren- skii’s philosoph... more Discontinuity (preryvnost’ / прерывность) is a pivotal concept in Pavel Floren-
skii’s philosophy and theory of knowledge. He utilises it in many fields and subjects:
mathematics, physics, semiotics, aesthetics, theology, and literature. Florenskii’s uni-
verse is a “discontinuous double” in which an earthly and natural state of things is opposed to an upper-world that is ruled by different geometrical laws and is know-
able only by abstraction. In between there is always a threshold (a symbol, an “icon”)
that connects the two. The general intent of this article is, on the one hand, to give an
indication of the main directions of the concept of discontinuity within Florenskii’s
works and, on the other hand, to highlight its relevance for a “philosophy of culture”
and for a “philosophy of the symbolic forms”, but also – as Florenskii puts it – for a
specific understanding of the “Russian mind”. The article also devotes a section to the
literary aspects of Florenskii’s concept of discontinuity (less explored by Florenskii
scholarship and perhaps by the author himself), which involve among other things a
reading of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and an original and ambitious attempt of interpreting
physical space in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Theologica et Historica (vol. 29), 2020
Questo articolo prende in considerazione il tema dell’origine metafisica del male nei "Saggi di t... more Questo articolo prende in considerazione il tema dell’origine metafisica
del male nei "Saggi di teodicea" di Leibniz e cerca di stabilire che rapporto vi sia tra la tesi classica assunta dall’autore, quella della “privazione dell’essere”, e il sistema dell’Armonia prestabilita che costituisce l’asse portante dell’argomentazione proposta nell’opera. Il risultato di questa analisi sembra essere la scarsa rilevanza della tesi privativa all’interno del sistema leibniziano. Leibniz recupera e integra con opportune distinzioni l’idea agostiniana dell’origine del male come privatio entis in un modo funzionale al suo discorso, ma sempre ponendo l’accento sulla razionalità delle scelte di Dio e sul Suo concorso come “sostanza attiva” in queste scelte – anche quando queste ultime hanno a che fare con la presenza del male nel mondo – piuttosto che sull’analisi della natura del male in sé, come fanno per esempio, seppure in modi molto diversi, Tommaso e Kant.
[This article investigates the metaphysical origin of evil in Leibniz’s "Theodicy" within the relationship between the classical thesis assumed by the author, that of the “privation of being”, and his system of the pre-established Harmony, which represents the backbone for his argument in the work. The result of this analysis points out the scarce relevance of the thesis within the Leibnizian system. Leibniz recovers and integrates with appropriate distinctions the Augustinian idea of the origin of evil as privatio entis in a way that is functional to his theory, albeit always emphasising the rationality of God’s choices and His participation as an “active substance” in these choices – even when the latter have to do with the presence of evil in the world – rather than highlighting the nature of evil itself, as Thomas Aquinas and Kant do, albeit in very different ways.]
Solov'evskie Issledovaniya, 2021
The issue of the existence of a peculiarly «Russian» philosophy has long been the object of many ... more The issue of the existence of a peculiarly «Russian» philosophy has long been the object of many debates, which soon led to very different and often opposite conclusions. The question is always the same: Is there an original contribution that Russian authors made to philosophy, in the same way as with literature, arts, and sciences? What happened to Greek/Western philosophy when cultivated in «Russian soil»? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to first carry out a brief examination of the never-obvious issue of «what being a philosopher means», i.e. of what generally distinguishes an intellectual who claims to be a «philosopher» from other kinds of intellectuals or scholars. After this short but necessary premise, this article will try to sum up some of the classic and modern definitions of Russian philosophy (from Chaadaev to Evlampiev) and conclude by proposing a personal idea about an overarching frame of Russian philosophical thought. In my opinion, the latter mostly originates from a peculiar reception in Russia of Platonism, Idealism and Marxism that ultimately transformed those views, especially during the Silver Age, into a sort of «integral gnoseology», which connects «logos» and «life» in a specifically dialectical way that can be described, pour cause, as «Russian».
Il rapporto della filologia con i testi filosofici (o, in un senso ancora più estremo, con quelli... more Il rapporto della filologia con i testi filosofici (o, in un senso ancora più estremo, con quelli scientifici) è meno diretto o decisivo rispetto alla maniera nella quale questa disciplina opera con i testi letterari o, più in generale, con qualunque testo cosiddetto “canonico” (testi sacri, giuridici, testi dal forte valore storico o archeologico). La questione riguardante un simile privilegio della filologia per certi testi rispetto ad altri è a un tempo banale ma anche fortemente problematica.
Solov'evskie Issledovaniya (1.65), pp. 79-90, 2020
На материале статьи Льва Шестова 1927 года «Умозрение и апокалипсис (Религиозная философия Вл. Со... more На материале статьи Льва Шестова 1927 года «Умозрение и апокалипсис (Религиозная философия Вл. Соловьева)» рассматривается противоречивое отношение к воззрениям Владимира Соловьева. Несмотря на резко критическое отношение Шестова к идеям Соловьева и объективные различия, существующие между двумя философами, которых едва ли можно сравнивать, прослеживается возможность конструктивного диалога между ними. Идеи Л. Шестова и Вл. Соловьева рассматриваются в рамках концепции «русской идеи» Н. Бердяева. Утверждается, что, в соответствии с предлагаемой Н. Бердяевым и А. Лосевым интерпретацией обоих авторов, идеи Соловьева и Шестова в своем высшем смысле сходятся в эсхатологическом видении правды этого мира, а также в фундаментальном недоверии западному эпистемологическому мировоззрению.
(This article explores the controversial relationship Lev Shestov had with the thought of Vladimir Solovyov basing mostly on the main writing that he dedicated to him, i.e. the 1927 article «Speculation and Apocalypse. The Religious Philosophy of Vl. Solovyov». However harshly critical Shestov’s reading of Solovyov was, and considering also the objective difference between the two philosophers who can hardly be compared the one to the other, there is still a margin for a positive confrontation between their respective works. This is given by the larger frame of N. Berdyaev’s concept of «Russian idea», within which their thought can be inscribed in a way that Shestov himself had actually anticipated at the end of his essay on Solovyov. In this respect, as is suggested by an interpretation of the two authors offered by N. Berdyaev and A. Losev, the ultimate meaning of both Solovyov’s and Shestov’s thought would converge in an eschatological view towards the truth of this world as well as in the fundamental mistrust towards the Western epistemic worldview)
"Theologica & Historica" (XXVII), pp. 101-112, 2018
This paper examines the concept of “faith” within Russian religious philosophy of the 19th and ea... more This paper examines the concept of “faith” within Russian religious philosophy of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular reference to Chaadaev, Khomyakov, Kireevsky, Dostoevsky, Solovyov and Berdyaev, among others, and their dialectical relationship with the Western world. Russian religious thought, in fact, has always highlighted the concept of faith in a peculiar way, i.e. as a faith per se, as the way in which one believes, rather than the object of belief itself. Even the long-lasting dispute between Westernisers and Slavophiles – or the later opposition between the Russian Intelligentsia and religious philosophy – can be said to demonstrate the existence of a specific “Russian idea”, which resides in the identification of a unitary vision of the world and of a fusion of philosophy and life, of science and faith (Berdyaev).
What is the real problem underlying Florensky’s challenge to Western art? Why, in re-discussing t... more What is the real problem underlying Florensky’s challenge to Western art? Why, in re-discussing the status of image in the twentieth century, is he so determined to hark back to a theological issue that arises from the Early Middle Ages? In dealing with problems such as “nature vs. reality,” “truth vs. illusion,” “reverse perspective vs. linear perspective,” not only does the Russian philosopher put the icon back at the heart of the modern aesthetic reflection but he also proposes a specific, transfigured, and finally “realistic” conception of the physical world. This article will investigate the Florenskian critique of naturalistic art in the light of the so-called “iconic view” and it will try to better determine the real point of the opposition he makes between the concepts of “naturalism” and “realism,” being the latter an integral and more authentic view of the world. Florensky’s realism is, as will be finally demonstrated in this essay, a “theory of the two worlds,” within a paradigm of a fundamental discontinuity of the whole reality. These two worlds can be recognized and kept together only by means of a third part, i.e. an abstraction – albeit given by a concrete element – that finally provides a wider symbolic way of knowledge. This is what he calls a “concrete metaphysics.”
Тезисы
Андреа Оппо
"Опрокидывание Натурализма: Эстетический реализм Павла Флоренского"
В чем заключается истинная суть критики, которой Флоренский подвергал западное искусство? Почему, заново трактуя статус образа в двадцатом столетии, он с такой непреклонностью возвращается к богословскому вопросу, уходящему корнями в раннее Средневековье? Касаясь таких тем как «природа и реальность», «истина и иллюзия», «обратная перспектива и линейная перспектива», русский философ не только вновь помещает икону в самую сердцевину современной эстетической мысли, но также предлагает особую, преображенную, и в итоге «реалистическую» концепцию физического мира. В данной статье рассматривается критика Флоренским естественного искусства в свете так называемого «иконического взгляда» и делается попытку более точно определить истинный предмет противопоставления, которое он делает между идеями «натурализма» и «реализма», из которых вторая представляет собой целостный и более аутентичный взгляд на мир. Реализм Флоренского, как показано в статье, представляет собой «теорию двух миров» в пределах парадигмы фундаментальной прерывности реальности. Эти два мира могут быть распознаны и связаны друг с другом только посредством некой третьей части, т.е. абстракции С, хотя и заданной конкретным элементом С, которая в итоге предлагает более широкое символическое познание. Флоренский называет это «конкретной метафизикой».
"In this chapter, Andrea Oppo examines the border between philosophy and literature, framing his ... more "In this chapter, Andrea Oppo examines the border between philosophy and literature, framing his reading of Lewis Carroll using Deleuze’s analysis in The Logic of Sense, arguing that the border between philosophy and literature must be explored in the context of language, meaning, and reference. The contrasting perspectives of objectivity and subjectivity, where meaning is relational, is one way of conceptualizing this borderland; Deleuze conceives of this border as the contrast between surface and depth. Oppo argues that sense has a dynamic structure where inside and outside are entangled, as in a Mobius strip, and that this structure reveals that all sense is rooted in nonsense. The author finally suggests the fragility of sense, as it constantly ‘stutters’ and threatens to fall into the abyss of nonsense."
In uno scritto del 1922, partendo da una concezione eretica dei numeri complessi, Pavel Florenski... more In uno scritto del 1922, partendo da una concezione eretica dei numeri complessi, Pavel Florenskij interpreta lo spazio nella Divina Commedia, basandosi su Inferno XXXIV, come conformato a una geometria ellittica non euclidea, secondo il modello kleiniano. Successivamente, nello stesso scritto, il matematico e filosofo russo integra una simile concezione della superficie su cui si muovono Dante e Virgilio con un modello fisico di spazio e tempo mutuato dalla teoria della relatività di Einstein. Si assiste così a uno dei tentativi più originali e ambiziosi mai compiuti di lettura della Divina Commedia ad opera di un autore geniale e poliedrico, quale era Florenskij, capace di unire nel XX secolo, senza soluzione di continuità e in un unico paradigma conoscitivo, discipline come matematica, fisica, letteratura, filosofia e teologia. Questo articolo analizza la lettura di Dante da parte di Florenskij sia da un punto di vista teoretico che da un punto di vista linguistico, per mostrare infine come questo piccolo testo possa rappresentare a buon diritto un passaggio chiave nella comprensione dell’intera concezione filosofica del pensatore russo.
Starting from a ‘heretic’ conception of imaginary numbers, in a text of 1922 Pavel Florenskij interprets the idea of space in Dante’s Divine Comedy (basing on Hell XXXIV) as conformed to a non-Euclidean and elliptic geometry, according to a Kleinian model. Successively, in the same article, Florenskij merges such a conception of the surface (where Dante and Virgilius move) to a physic model of space and time he draws from Einstein’s theory of relativity. The result is one of the most original and ambitious attempts ever made of reading the Divine Comedy. Its author, Florenskij, was a genial intellectual, capable of joining together in a single analysis subjects like mathematics, physics, literature, philosophy, and theology. This article will investigate Florenskij’s reading of Dante from both a theoretical and a linguistic point of view.
Lev Shestov’s first book, Shakespeare and His Critic Brandes (1898), seems to harbor a “secret,” ... more Lev Shestov’s first book, Shakespeare and His Critic Brandes (1898), seems to harbor a “secret,” which would explain the fact that for nearly a century this work remained virtually unknown. Defending Shakespeare against Georg Brandes’s “misguided” interpretation, Shestov seems strangely different from the person who, throughout his entire subsequent life, fiercely attacked any preaching of morality. Why did Shestov change his mind on that issue? And what position exactly did he defend in Shakespeare and His Critic Brandes that he would subsequently dismiss? These are two crucial questions that are dealt with in this article, which investigates the very beginnings of Shestov’s philosophy and offers a key to understanding how the Russian philosopher began his path toward anti-rationalism and anti-moralism.
Создается впечатление, что первая книга Льва Шестова Шекспир и его критик Брандес (1898) сокрыла в себе “секрет”, который мог бы послужить объяснением того факта, что почти на протяжении века эта книга оставалась фактически неизвестной. Защищая Шекспира от “неверного” толкования Георга Брандеса, Шестов кажется странно непохожим на человека, который на протяжении всей последующей жизни яростно нападает на любые моралистские проповеди. Почему Шестов изменил свое мнение по поводу этой темы? И какую конкретно точку зрения он защищал в книге Шекспир и его критик Брандес, отвергнув ее позже? Это два важнейших вопроса, затронутые в данной статье, которая исследует самые истоки философии Шестова и предлагает ключ к пониманию того, как русский философ начал свой путь к антирационализму и антиморализму.
This article focuses on two significant texts revealing the crisis and stalemate of narrative dur... more This article focuses on two significant texts revealing the crisis and stalemate of narrative during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Herman Melville's short tale Bartleby, The Scrivener and Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Particular attention is paid Gilles Deleuze’s and Theodor Adorno’s philosophical interpretations of these two authors. Overall, the interruption and impasse of narrative are shown to happen in two radically different ways in Melville and Beckett, leading to two equally different consequences for the definition of subjectivity in contemporary aesthetics.
Raramente è stata messa in luce l’importanza che Thomas Stearns Eliot ha avuto nello sviluppo del... more Raramente è stata messa in luce l’importanza che Thomas Stearns Eliot ha avuto nello sviluppo della concezione teatrale di Jerzy Grotowski. Eppure il regista polacco, il cui lavoro teorico ha avuto un peso enorme nella teoria e nella pratica teatrale della seconda metà del Novecento, ha mostrato più volte il suo amore incondizionato per il poeta inglese e alcune prove, anche testuali, ne mostrano l’influenza diretta e decisiva. Questo articolo cercherà di affrontare i nodi cruciali della ricezione eliotiana da parte di Grotowski: in particolar modo in relazione alla figura di Cristo, così come rappresentata da Grotowski, e al simbolo oggettivo che questa incarna e che in qualche modo si pone, nella visione dell’autore polacco, alla fine del teatro stesso.
Quella tra fantasia e immaginazione è una distinzione semantico-estetica circolata tra ‘700 e ‘80... more Quella tra fantasia e immaginazione è una distinzione semantico-estetica circolata tra ‘700 e ‘800 sia nel mondo anglosassone sia in quello germanico, ma che per tante ragioni nel ‘900 è tramontata o caduta in disuso. Questo articolo si propone di ricostruire a grandi linee l’ampio dibattito critico novecentesco sulla differenza tra i due termini così come l’ha posta Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
ovvero uno dei maggiori artefici della sua diffusione nel mondo anglo-americano. In secondo luogo, si cercherà di ragionare su alcuni motivi dell’insuccesso e dell’inattualità di questa distinzione nell’estetica contemporanea e insieme proporne una più corretta collocazione nel segno di un ideale specificamente romantico, e che solo alla luce dell’identificazione tutta romantica di mito e poesia, riletta oggi in chiave ermeneutica, ha qualcosa da dire alla contemporaneità.
Slavic Review, 2023
This beautifully produced volume brings together in a single edited collection many of the most i... more This beautifully produced volume brings together in a single edited collection many of the most important articles written over the last fifty years by the eminent scholar (...)
Dostoevsky Studies (vol. 24), 2021
Slavonic and East European Review (Vol. 99, no. 4), 2021
In summary, Moss's thoughtful and well-researched study will be of interest to Russian scholars f... more In summary, Moss's thoughtful and well-researched study will be of interest to Russian scholars from different fields. It makes an important contribution to the existing scholarship pertaining to Russian history of ideas and modernist studies. It maps a new direction in the exploration of Russian treatment of the woman question across different periods and genres.
Shakespeare's dramas as her model, Catherine was seeking primarily, Naroditskaya argues, to legit... more Shakespeare's dramas as her model, Catherine was seeking primarily, Naroditskaya argues, to legitimize and celebrate her own ongoing campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the Black Sea region, especially her desire (never realized) to capture Constantinople. Her Oleg also influenced the tradition of nineteenth-century Russian heroic and historical operas, including Prince Igor, Ivan Susanin, and Boris Godunov.
This collective volume aims to highlight the philosophical and literary idea of "apocalypse," wit... more This collective volume aims to highlight the philosophical and literary idea of "apocalypse," within some key examples in the "Slavic world" during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From Russian realism to avant-garde painting, from the classic fiction of the nineteenth century to twentiethcentury philosophy, and not omitting theatre, cinema or music, there is a specific examination of the concepts of "end of history" and "end of present time" as conditions for a redemptive image of the world. To understand this idea means to understand an essential part of Slavic culture, which, however divergent and variegated it may be in general, converges on this specific myth in a surprising manner.
This book is comprised of a collection of essays that treat the topic of the apocalypse in Slavic... more This book is comprised of a collection of essays that treat the topic of the apocalypse in Slavic thought. It investigates the philosophical, literary and aesthetic idea of apocalypse in the Slavic world from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. This book conveys the various approaches which have been taken toward the theme of the apocalypse in Slavic culture.
Discontinuity [pereryv] is a pivotal concept in Pavel Florensky's philosophy and theory of knowle... more Discontinuity [pereryv] is a pivotal concept in Pavel Florensky's philosophy and theory of knowledge. It can be drawn in many fields and subjects: mathematics, physics, semiotics, aesthetics, theology but even literature. Florensky's universe is a 'discontinuous double' in which an earthly and natural state of things is opposed to an upper-world that is ruled by different geometrical laws and is knowable only by abstraction. In between there is always a threshold (a symbol, an 'icon') that connects the two. This paper will investigate the literary aspects of this process (indeed the less explored by Florensky scholarships and by the author himself), which involve among other things a reading of Shakespeare's Hamlet and an original and ambitious attempt of interpreting the physical space in Dante's Divine Comedy.
![Research paper thumbnail of Volti e figure nella pittura russa [Faces and Shapes of Russian Painting] (Cagliari, 14/5/2015, CLA, Università di Cagliari, Primo Forum sulla Lingua e Cultura russa)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/37854462/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Primo Forum internazionale della lingua russa e cultura slava in Sardegna (Testo della conferenza... more Primo Forum internazionale della lingua russa e cultura slava in Sardegna (Testo della conferenza tenuta a Cagliari, CLA, il 14 maggio 2015aula 4) Sessione pomeridiana: Lingua russa e animo slavo "Volti e figure nella pittura russa"
This is a lecture on philosophical anthropology and aesthetics. So, anthropology and art together... more This is a lecture on philosophical anthropology and aesthetics. So, anthropology and art together – this is not an unusual combination, as art, as a typically human phenomenon, is probably one of the most precious resources in order to help us understand humanity in general (what we are, what we think, the way in which we plan and figure out our world) and the various paths of human culture. And, needless to say, “understanding humanity” is undoubtedly one of the main goals that philosophy, right from the very beginning, has always tried to achieve.
Within the immense field of art, I am going to go over a specific experience I would define as distinctively Occidental, i.e. the concept of perspective.
In fact, perspective might be well considered, as someone also argued (and I am thinking of Ernst Cassirer and, later, Erwin Panofsky, and, again, a great German art historian such as Hans Belting), the “symbolic form” par excellence of Western modernity – a form that significantly influenced the western theory of vision, its inner imagery, and eventually humankind itself (when it comes to planning, imagining the “future to come”, the life we want to have…). The way this world must be. That’s what a philosophical anthropology is in my view: the way in which humans think this world should be. In all that, perspective appears as a crucial junction for the Western world and, consequently, for all humanity. This is exactly what I am trying to investigate in this presentation: on the one hand, perspective as an essentially symbolic form that has become almost an obsession for all Western culture. On the other hand, I would like to explore other ways – ways that refused that obsession and tried to develop “other kinds of perspectives”. In this case, I am going to compare an hypothetical Russian view on the world – as I drew it from my studies on philosophy and arts – with the Western one.
The first part of this presentation is devoted to an analysis of the Western idea of perspective whereas the second part will introduce a possibly Russian way. Hence, the subtitle of this presentation: “Philosophies of Perspective”.
![Research paper thumbnail of Il Gesù di Pasolini [Pasolini's Jesus]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/40956124/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Il film che stiamo per vedere ha una vicenda complessa, non tanto di produzione quanto forse di g... more Il film che stiamo per vedere ha una vicenda complessa, non tanto di produzione quanto forse di genesi, ideazione e contenuto. Questi aspetti hanno una tale densità di senso, di per sé, da escludere che tutto ciò che riguarda quest'opera possa essere minimamente banalizzato. Non vi è nulla di banale nel Gesù di Pasolini e, del resto, che Pasolini stesso arrivasse a fare un film sul Vangelo non è e non può essere un fatto banale. Tutte queste considerazioni contrastano incredibilmente con l'esito che andremo a vedere: e cioè questo è o potrebbe apparire come un film estremamente semplice. Un'opera quasi filologica, di restitutio del testo evangelico, una traducibilità perfetta in immagini del Vangelo di Matteo. Ambizione suprema quest'ultima dell'iconografia di ogni tempo, nonché punto cruciale delle dispute iconoclastiche dell'età dei Padri della Chiesa. Se Gesù Cristo, il Figlio di Dio, dovesse essere visualizzato, reso ai nostri sensi non solo per mezzo di parole, ma dipinto, mostrato, non parliamo quindi di "filmato", in movimento e in sonoro, allora che forma, che espressioni, che tono di voce, che gestualità avrebbe o potrebbe avere? Oggi sembra quasi una domanda innocua, ma quindici secoli fa era una questione
![Research paper thumbnail of Gramsci e la religione [Gramsci on Religion] (Ghilarza, OR, 3/12/2015, Torre aragonese)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/40708987/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Testo dell'intervento tenuto a Ghilarza, Torre aragonese, il 3 dicembre 2015, ore 18, alla confer... more Testo dell'intervento tenuto a Ghilarza, Torre aragonese, il 3 dicembre 2015, ore 18, alla conferenza "Gramsci e la religione", Interventi di Adriano Prosperi, Andrea Oppo, Silvano Tagliagambe.] «Grazie di questo invito, a tutti. "Gramsci e la religione", dunque. Un tema difficile. Non so chi l'abbia pensato di voi organizzatori, ma devo dire che ha avuto un'idea che metterebbe in crisi chiunque debba affrontare un tema simile.
Intervista rilasciata al prof. Andrea Oppo a margine della "lectura Dantis" del 13 marzo 2015 a C... more Intervista rilasciata al prof. Andrea Oppo a margine della "lectura Dantis" del 13 marzo 2015 a Cagliari.
"Theologi-ca News: notiziario della Pontificia Facoltà Teologica della Sardegna", anno XXXII (2015), n. 59, giugno, pp. 4-5;
http://www.pfts.it/images/documenti_pdf/Notiziario/2015_2_PFTS_Notiziario.pdf
La conferenza si è tenuta il 13 marzo 2015 a Cagliari. Nel solco illustre della tradizione di Lectura Dantis, iniziata da Boccaccio, si passano in rassegna i luoghi della Commedia in cui è citata la Sardigna (Inf. XXII 89) o l’isola d’i Sardi (Inf. XXVI 104) secondo il viaggio di Ulisse; oltre a personaggi come Michele Zanche (Inf. XXII 87 ss.). Il periodo in cui Dante fu a contatto con Pisa dovette essere anche quello per una conoscenza, sebbene de relato, dell’isola allora sotto l’influenza della città toscana nei secoli XII e XIII. Tuttavia la resa favolosa di un’isola impervia e malarica permane in altri accenni del sacrato poema, fino a farne un luogo remoto per eccellenza, al modo di Boccaccio: «dee egli essere più là che Abruzzi» (Decameron, VIII 3).
Il foglio con le citazioni e le diapositive utilizzate durante la conferenza sono a: http://www.pfts.it/index.php/notizie/129-la-divina-commedia-letta-in-sardegna.
![Research paper thumbnail of Il pensiero filosofico occidentale e la morte [Western Philosophy on Death]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/36238653/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](22 May 2014 - Seminar (Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sardinia, Cagliari, Italy)
![Research paper thumbnail of Che cos'è l'ermeneutica filosofica? [What Is Philosophical Hermeneutics?]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35729449/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](10 January 2013 - Seminar (Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sardinia, Cagliari, Italy)
![Research paper thumbnail of Perché la filosofia? [Why Philosophy?]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/38786436/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](24 November 2011 - Lecture (Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sardinia, Cagliari, Italy)
![Research paper thumbnail of L'estetica e il tema del male. Cinema e filosofia [Aesthetics and the Evil: Cinema and Philosophy]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35729538/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](10 November 2010 - Seminar (Cineteca Regionale Sarda, Cagliari, Italy)
Series: Contemporary Russian Philosophy, Vol. 6. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2024
Pavel Florensky (1882–1937) was a Russian philosopher, theologian, and scientist. He was consider... more Pavel Florensky (1882–1937) was a Russian philosopher, theologian, and scientist. He was considered by his contemporaries to be a polymath on a par with Pascal or Da Vinci. This book is the first comprehensive study in the English language to examine Florensky's entire philosophical oeuvre in its key metaphysical concepts. For Florensky, antinomy and symbol are the two faces of a single issue—the universal truth of discontinuity. This truth is a general law that represents, better than any other, the innermost structure of the universe. With its original perspective, Florensky’s philosophy is unique in the context of modern Russian thought, but also in the history of philosophy per se.
Academic Studies Press, 2020
This study spans the entire life and work of the Russian philosopher Lev Shestov (1866-1938). It ... more This study spans the entire life and work of the Russian philosopher Lev Shestov (1866-1938). It offers keys to understanding his thought, while also tracing the historical itinerary of his work. Shestov’s thought is not only interesting in itself, as a “philosophy fighting against philosophy,” but also because it reveals an entire world of cultural connections in its extraordinarily keen exploration of other “souls.” The reader will find in Shestov some of the sharpest analyses of authors such as Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Tolstoi, Dostoevskii, Luther, Plotinus, Pascal, Kierkegaard, and many others. This study will better determine the controversial and fascinating philosopher’s place in the history of Russian and Western thought.
![Research paper thumbnail of Platone e Kant nell'epistemologia di Florenskij [Plato and Kant in Florensky's Epistemology] (in S. Tagliagambe - M. Spano - A. Oppo (eds.), Il pensiero polifonico di Pavel Florenskij [Atti del convegno per gli 80 anni dalla morte], Cagliari, PFTS University Press, 2018, pp. 383-413)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/57373460/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](In numerosi passaggi all'interno dei suoi scritti Pavel Florenskij propone un parallelismo tra du... more In numerosi passaggi all'interno dei suoi scritti Pavel Florenskij propone un parallelismo tra due concezioni del mondo opposte e complementari, riferibili a Platone da una parte, e a Kant dall'altra. La frequenza e la rilevanza con la quale il filosofo russo fa ricorso a questa opposizione, che accompagna tutta la sua riflessione dagli esordi fino agli ultimi scritti e si trova pressoché dovunque nel corpus florenskiano, è prova del fatto che non si tratti di una similitudine occasionale o di secondaria importanza. Al contrario, Platone e Kant rappresentano per Florenskij due modelli epistemici originari, capaci di cogliere e interpretare altrettanti aspetti, o per meglio dire, "polarità" del mondo, della cultura e della storia considerate da lui come decisive. Accanto all'elaborazione di progetti in buona parte compiuti -come una teologia, un'epistemologia o una filosofia del linguaggio florenskiane -, nel ricorso a questo parallelismo si intravede la possibilità di una "filosofia della storia" di matrice florenskiana. Una filosofia della storia che risente evidentemente dell'influenza hegeliana ma che è anche solidamente connessa alla fondamentale visione filosofico-scientifica del filosofo russo, tale da diventare una cornice storico-culturale sufficientemente ampia nella quale inscrivere la generale epistemologia di Florenskij. Dunque, in questo connubio di filosofia della conoscenza e storia è possibile cogliere il senso generale della dialettica Platone/Kant che, come si vedrà, ha molto di simbolico e poco di "storico", almeno nell'accezione specifica che diamo a questo aggettivo di fedeltà alle fonti, ai testi e a una certa lettura cronologica degli eventi.
Un testo uscito di recente per la collana “Bibliotheca minima” della PFTS University Press, intit... more Un testo uscito di recente per la collana “Bibliotheca minima” della PFTS University Press, intitolato "La prospettiva inversa. Il senso dell'icona russa", affronta il problema dell’icona cristiana sotto un aspetto propriamente artistico ed estetico-filosofico, sulla scorta delle analisi portate avanti da un gruppo di filosofi e teologi russi dell’inizio del XX secolo, fra i quali spicca in modo particolare Pavel Florenskij. In che rapporto si colloca l’icona russa con l’arte naturalistica occidentale? Perché Florenskij afferma con tanta sicurezza che l'arte religiosa occidentale è un "falso artistico"? Che cos’è la “falsità” di una rappresentazione?
Sono queste alcune delle domande affrontate in questo volume scritto da Andrea Oppo, slavista e docente di Estetica alla Pontificia Facoltà Teologica della Sardegna.
Se una questione filosofica esiste a proposito dell’icona, questa è da ricercarsi in una messa in dubbio radicale delle idee di spazio e di tempo presenti nel naturalismo occidentale. Quando si parla di “realtà” o di “verità” di una rappresentazione, che mostri l’essere e non l’apparire, e in particolare, se si parla del divino, e quindi di un altro tipo di “spazio” oltre che di contenuto della rappresentazione stessa, non deve meravigliare che la filosofia religiosa russa e un autore come Pavel Florenskij si pongano in maniera specifica il problema della “verità del naturalismo” quasi come di una contraddizione in termini. Il problema esiste e si colloca precisamente al fondo di una definizione estetica (nel senso originario e filosofico del termine) dell’arte iconografica. Parafrasando il titolo di un celebre studio di Hans Belting, siamo qui di fronte a una direttrice Firenze-Mosca, i cui due termini sono i poli antitetici di una differente concezione dell’arte e della natura che viene esaminata in questo saggio. La prospettiva rovesciata, dunque, come elemento simbolico di una intera concezione del mondo, come rovesciamento del mondo stesso.
Questo testo – breve ma denso nei contenuti – ricostruisce nei suoi nodi essenziali la vicenda filosofica relativa all’icona russa, soprattutto nell’analisi dei concetti chiave di arte e natura; di mondo e rappresentazione di quest’ultimo; di tempo e realtà, alla luce di una visione “iconica” e rovesciata di tutti questi rapporti.
Andrea Oppo, La prospettiva inversa. Il senso dell'icona russa, collana Bibliotheca minima, PFTS University Press, Cagliari 2016, 122 pp.
![Research paper thumbnail of La meraviglia e il fallimento. Un'introduzione ragionata alla filosofia [The Wonder and Failure. A Reasoned Introduction to Philosophy] (Roma: Castelvecchi editore 2015)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/38723938/thumbnails/1.jpg)
]("[...] La filosofia, dunque, è una domanda di inizio o di fine: è un discorso di meraviglia o di ... more "[...] La filosofia, dunque, è una domanda di inizio o di fine: è un discorso di meraviglia o di fallimento, che serve a vedere qualcosa nella sua interezza oppure serve a ridefinirla e ricostruirla in seguito al fallimento o crisi di ciò che credevamo essere vero. È un discorso totale e scettico allo stesso tempo: è un’analisi dell’intero, ma è anche un’analisi che eccede sempre ciò che si pensa di sapere. Entra in gioco quando si vuole conoscere qualcosa nella sua totale e libera essenza oppure quando non ci si fida più o non si è più soddisfatti dei paradigmi e delle conoscenze acquisite. La domanda filosofica è libera, astratta, disinteressata, ma è anche scettica e rivoluzionaria. In tutti questi casi è comunque lontana o diversa da un’interpretazione puramente 'materiale' o causale della realtà o da un sapere che produce effetti utili e immediatamente percepibili: non è risposta diretta ai problemi né semplice causalità o teoria sul mondo; non è persuasione e non è neanche racconto o descrizione. È piuttosto uno sguardo rigoroso, che fa del principio di non-contraddizione il suo faro originario, su ciò che qualcosa è nella sua libera essenza conoscibile oppure su ciò che eccede il reale e il mondo così come si vede e si crede essere." (p. 38)
This collective volume aims to highlight the philosophical and literary idea of “apocalypse,” wit... more This collective volume aims to highlight the philosophical and literary idea of “apocalypse,” within some key examples in the “Slavic world” during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From Russian realism to avant-garde painting, from the classic fiction of the nineteenth century to twentieth-century philosophy, and not omitting theatre, cinema or music, there is a specific examination of the concepts of “end of history” and “end of present time” as conditions for a redemptive image of the world. To understand this idea means to understand an essential part of Slavic culture, which, however divergent and variegated it may be in general, converges on this specific myth in a surprising manner.
![Research paper thumbnail of Filosofia e salvezza [Philosophy and Salvation] (Cagliari: PFTS University Press 2013)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/36110039/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Che cosa ha a che fare la filosofia con la salvezza? Esiste un rapporto tra la ricerca razionale ... more Che cosa ha a che fare la filosofia con la salvezza? Esiste un rapporto tra la ricerca razionale del vero e l’esser salvi? È pensabile offrire una risposta filosofica alle domande di senso più elevate, quali: cosa ci salva o ci salverà per davvero? Quale bellezza? Quale fede? Quale speranza? E soprattutto: cos’è la “salvezza” Filosofia e salvezza (PFTS University Press 2013), di Andrea Oppo, è un dialogo filosofico tra quattro interlocutori, che nasce a partire dalla metafora del naufragio su un’isola deserta e, con un linguaggio denso e un riferimento costante al mondo culturale russo, giunge in modo diretto alle “domande totali” dell’uomo.
This book examines the role of Samuel Beckett in contemporary philosophical aesthetics, primarily... more This book examines the role of Samuel Beckett in contemporary philosophical aesthetics, primarily through analysis of both his own essays and the various interpretations that philosophers (especially Adorno, Blanchot, Deleuze, and Badiou) have given to his works. The study centres around the fundamental question of the relationship between art and truth, where art, as a negative truth, comes to its complete exhaustion (as Deleuze terms it) by means of a series of ‘endgames’ that progressively involve philosophy, writing, language and every individual and minimal form of expression. The major thesis of the book is that, at the heart of Beckett’s philosophical project, this ‘aesthetics of truth’ turns out to be nothing other than the real subject itself, within a contradictory and tragic relationship that ties the Self/Voice to the Object/Body. Yet a number of questions remain open. ‘What’ or ‘who’ lies behind this process? What is left of the endgame of art and subjectivity? Finally, what sustains and renders possible Beckett’s paradoxical axiom of the ‘impossibility to express’ alongside the ‘obligation to express’? By means of a thorough overview of the most recent criticism of Beckett, this book will try to answer these questions.
Contents: Beckett’s philosophy as a discourse on ‘exits’ – Beckett as Essayist – From Dante to Proust: Beckett’s Literary Criticism Years – In Dialogue with Van Velde: Painting and Philosophy – Theodor Adorno and Beckett – Beckett’s Aesthetics of truth – Exhausting the Possible Field of Narrative: Deleuze and Beckett – Beckett with Jerzy Grotowski – Thinking Differently from Thinking: The Body in Beckett’s Later Theatre – Beyond the Stalemate of Subjectivity.
In the first decades of 17 th century the missions of Jesuits in Japan underwent heavy persecutio... more In the first decades of 17 th century the missions of Jesuits in Japan underwent heavy persecutions. At a certain point, not even a single priest was left in the whole Country to celebrate mass and to administrate sacraments. How far it should appear, in that moment, Franciscus Xavier's time and his triumphs! That was a time in which more than 300.000 Japanese people had been converted to Christian faith. Before that, poor people was expecting nothing more than a word, actually a "sign,"
What is the real question underlying Florensky's challenge to Western art? Why, in re-discussing ... more What is the real question underlying Florensky's challenge to Western art? Why, in re-discussing the status of image in the twentieth century, is he so determined to hark back to a theological issue that arises from the Early Middle Ages? In dealing with problems such as " nature vs. reality, " " truth vs. illusion, " " reverse perspective vs. linear perspective, " not only does the Russian philosopher put the icon back at the heart of the modern aesthetic reflection but he also proposes a peculiar, transfigured conception of the physical world. This paper will investigate the Florenskian critique of naturalistic art in the light of the so-called " iconic view " and it will try to better determine the real point of the opposition he makes between the concepts of " naturalism " and " realism, " being the latter an integral and more authentic view of the world.