Benedetto Croce (1866–1952) was an Italian historian, humanist, literary critic, and political leader. An idealist philosopher, he was one of the foremost Italian intellectuals of his age.
Born in Pescasseroli, Aquila, Croce studied at the University of Rome and spent the rest of his life mainly in Naples, working as an independent scholar. He dedicated himself primarily to literature and antiquarian studies. He developed a theory of aesthetics that denied the physical reality of the work of art.
Croce founded the review La Critica in 1903, and made major contributions to idealistic aesthetics in his major work, Filosofia dello spirito (4 vols., 1902–17, ‘Philosophy of the Spirit,’) which included Estetica (1902, ‘Aesthetic’) and La Poesia (1936, ‘Poetry.’)
Croce served as minister of education 1920–21 but opposed Benito Mussolini and all forms of totalitarianism. After the fall of Mussolini, Croce returned to political life and helped rebuild Italy’s democratic institutions.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Benedetto Croce
Unless a capacity for thinking be accompanied by a capacity for action, a superior mind exists in torture.
—Benedetto Croce
Topics: Action, Procrastination, Getting Going, Inaction
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