Abstract

Besides the well-known Aesthetics, Logic, Philosophy of the Practical, and the Vico and Hegel books, Croce is the author of about three dozen other philosophical works, one in a series of "Philosophical Essays," another in a series of "Miscellaneous Writings," and a third one in the 44-volume series on "Literary and Political History." As editor and quasi-publisher of his own books, Croce himself probably contributed to philosophers’ neglect of these less theoretical, less systematic works by giving to the first three books mentioned above the editorial label of "Philosophy of Mind" and listing them before the others in the collected edition of his works. If one takes the trouble to read all his works, it becomes very difficult, however, to find a coherent structure in terms of which one can understand the somewhat different views one finds, as one might expect since they span a period of about 60 years; nor can one easily make sense of the various changes that Croce’s views underwent. The present book is a serious and important attempt to identify such structures and to reduce such changes to developments.