Croce’s Saggi filosofici on literature and the theory of criticism
Saggi filosofici as a Collection of Essays
Philosophical Essays corresponds to the Italian title Saggi filosofici, a collection of miscellaneous philosophical treatises by Benedetto Croce, the Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and critic. It is a gathering of essays in philosophy rather than a single continuous treatise, and it belongs to Croce’s extensive body of writing on philosophy, history, historiography, aesthetics, and criticism.
An Introduction to Literary History and the Theory of Criticism
The collection is described as an introduction to the history of literature and to critical theory. Its subject is literary history together with the theory of criticism—the principles by which literary works are discussed, interpreted, and judged. The description places the volume at the meeting point of two fields: the historical study of literature and the philosophical examination of criticism itself.
Among Croce’s principal works, Philosophical Essays is grouped with his miscellaneous philosophical treatises. That grouping identifies it as a collected body of essays rather than one of the major systematic statements of his philosophy of spirit.
La Poesia is one of Croce’s miscellaneous philosophical treatises. It was first published as a collection in 1910 under the title Saggi Filosofici (Philosophical Essays).
Croce’s Aesthetic and Critical Position
The most significant aspect of Croce’s philosophy is the total dissociation of the work of art from any pre-existing concept, whether of the artist or of the observer. The work of art exists independently in the mind of its creator, even before being realised through its medium. The artist knows his creation only when he has completed it, and the observer of the work of art will enjoy its aesthetic values only when he recaptures and reexpresses the artist’s intention. Croce’s condemnation of allegories is challenged by Borges in his essays; for Croce allegory is “a kind of… cryptography,” in so far as it encodes two ideas in one image. Borges answers by agreeing, with Chesterton, on the inadequacy of language to express reality; allegory is another form of communication offering a means by which we can attempt to utter the ineffable.
