Costanzo Preve (14 April 1943 – 23 November 2013) was an Italian philosopher and a political theoretician. Preve is widely considered one of the most important

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

European thinkers and a renowned expert in the history of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. His thought is based on the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

idealistic Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...

tradition philosophy under the influence of

Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

and

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

. He is author of many essays and volumes about philosophical interpretation,

communitarianism Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...

and

universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is se ...

Biography

Born in

Valenza Valenza ( or ''Valensá'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about north of Alessandria, in the extreme Montferrat’s offshoots, in the Lombardy’s ...

, Preve studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

and

modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...

in Turin, Paris and Athens. He worked as a high school teacher from 1967 to 2002 and was engaged first in the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

(PCI). He then got close to

Proletarian Democracy Proletarian Democracy (, DP) was a far-left political party in Italy. History 1970s DP was founded in 1975 as a joint electoral front of the Proletarian Unity Party (PdUP), Workers Vanguard (AO) and the "Workers Movement for Socialism" (MLS), ...

, a party created in 1975 which opposed to the historic compromise between the PCI and the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

. After the dissolving of the PCI following the 1989 fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, Preve undertook a critical review of his own positions held in the precedent decades. He gave lectures for and took part in some of the cultural activities of the Anti-Imperialist Camp, a union of international leftist

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

activists who have received much attention from the media because of their critical stand against

American imperialism U.S. imperialism or American imperialism is the expansion of political, economic, cultural, media, and military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright mi ...

and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. Since 2005, he wrote for geopolitical journal ''

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

''. Preve was initially influenced by

Marxist philosopher Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser was a long-time member an ...

before turning himself towards

Georg Lukács Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg "Spiders Georg" is an Internet meme that began circulating on the mic ...

. He rejected the important workerism current (or autonomist Marxism) during the 1960–1970s. In the 1990s, Preve returned to Althusser and criticized

economism Economism is a direct reduction of any political or cultural phenomena or activities to economics. In particular, "economism" was a movement in early Russian Social Democratic Labour Party whose position was that the workers' struggle must be on ...

and

orthodox Marxism Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought which emerged after the deaths of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the late 19th century, expressed in its primary form by Karl Kautsky. Kautsky's views of Marxism dominated the European Marxis ...

based on a

teleological Teleology (from , and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology. In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Applet ...

philosophy of history Philosophy of history is the philosophy, philosophical study of history and its academic discipline, discipline. The term was coined by the French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between the ''specul ...

inspired by Hegel. As did Althusser in his latter work on "random materialism" (''matérialisme aléatoire''), Preve insisted on the place of contingency in history and considers the class contrast between the

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

and the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...

to be a historical passing form specific to a certain period of the capitalist mode of production. Preve conceived of the 1960s as a rupture in history in much the same way that the appearance of the proletariat in the 19th century had been as capitalism entered a new phase. However, Preve insists against Althusser on the

young Marx The correct place of Karl Marx's early writings within his system as a whole has been a matter of great controversy. Some believe there is a ''break'' in Marx's development that divides his thought into two periods: the "Young Marx" is said to be ...

theory of alienation Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the separation and estrangement of people from their work, their wider world, their human nature, and their selves. Alienation is a consequence of the division of labour in a capitalist society, wher ...

and on his theory on human nature and provocatively considered Marxism as the last phase of

German idealism German idealism is a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...

. Preve has also insisted on the unprecedented power of the sole hyperpower, that is the United States, warning against

cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (also cultural colonialism) comprises the culture, cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" describes practices in which a country engages culture (language, tradition, ritual, politics, economics) to creat ...

. He criticized

Antonio Negri Antonio Negri (; ; 1 August 1933 – 16 December 2023) was an Italian political philosopher known as one of the most prominent theorists of autonomism, as well as for his co-authorship of ''Empire (Hardt and Negri book), Empire'' with Michae ...

and

Michael Hardt Michael Hardt (born 1960) is an American political philosopher and literary theorist. Hardt is best known for his 2000 book ''Empire'', which was co-written with Antonio Negri. Hardt and Negri suggest that several forces which they see as do ...

's ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' (2000). Preve assigned four masters to Marx, namely

Epicurus Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an Greek philosophy, ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy that asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranqui ...

(to whom he dedicated his thesis, ''Difference of natural philosophy between

Democritus Democritus (, ; , ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, Thrace, Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an ...

and Epicurus'', 1841) for his materialism and theory of

clinamen Clinamen (; plural ''clinamina'', derived from , to incline) is the unpredictable swerve of atoms in the atomistic doctrine of Epicurus. This swerving, according to Lucretius, provides the " free will which living things throughout the world have" ...

;

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

, from which come his idea of

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

democracy;

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

, from whom came the idea that the grounds of property is labour; and finally

. Preve was an atheist. On 23 November 2013, Preve died in Turin, where he lived."In memoria di Preve"

Works

* ''La classe operaia non va in paradiso: dal marxismo occidentale all'operaismo italiano'' (in AA.VV., ''Alla ricerca della produzione perduta''). 1982, Dedalo * ''Cosa possiamo chiedere al marxismo'' (in AA.VV., ''Il marxismo in mare aperto''). 1983, Franco Angeli * ''La filosofia imperfetta. Una proposta di ricostruzione del marxismo contemporaneo''. 1984, Franco Angeli * ''La teoria in pezzi. La dissoluzione del paradigma teorico operaista in Italia (1976–1983)''. 1984, Dedalo * ''La ricostruzione del marxismo fra filosofia e scienza'' (in AA.VV., ''La cognizione della crisi. Saggi sul marxismo di Louis Althusser''). 1986, Franco Angeli * ''Vers une nouvelle alliance. Actualité et possibilités de développement de l'effort ontologique de Bloch et de Lukàcs'' (in AA.VV. ''Ernst Bloch et György Lukács. Un siècle après''). 1986, Actes Sud 'Verdinglichung und Utopie''. 1987, Sendler* ''La rivoluzione teorica di Louis Althusser'' (in AA.VV., ''Il marxismo di Louis Althusser''). 1987, Vallerini Editore * ''Viewing Lukàcs from the 1980s''. 1987, The University of Chicago Press * ''La passione durevole''. 1989, Vangelista * ''La musa di Clio vestita di rosso'' (in AA.VV., ''Trasfromazione e persistenza. Saggi sulla storicità del capitalismo''). 1990, Franco Angeli * ''Il filo di Arianna. Quindici lezioni di filosofia marxista''. 1990, Vangelista * ''Il marxismo ed il problema teorico dell'eguaglianza oggi'' (in AA.VV., ''Egalite/Inegalite''). 1990, QuattroVenti * ''Il convitato di pietra''. 1991, Vangelista * ''L'assalto al cielo. Saggio su marxismo e individualismo''. 1992, Vangelista * ''Il pianeta rosso. Saggio su marxismo e universalismo''. 1992, Vangelista * ''L'ideologia Italiana. Saggio sulla storia delle idee marxiste in Italia''. 1993, Vangelista * ''The dream and the reality. The spiritual crisis of western Marxism'' (in AA.VV., ''Marxism and spirituality. An international anthology''). 1993, Bengin and Gavey * ''Il tempo della ricerca. Saggio sul moderno, il postmoderno e la fine della storia''. 1993, Vangelista * ''Louis Althusser. La lutte contre le sens commun dans le mouvement communiste "historique" au XX siècle'' (in AA.VV, ''Politique et philosophie dans l'œuvre de Louis Althusser''). 1993, Presses Universitaires de France * ''L'eguale libertà. Saggio sulla natura umana''. 1994, Vangelista * ''Oltre la gabbia d'acciaio''. 1994, Vangelista, (+ Gianfranco La Grassa) * ''Il teatro dell'assurdo (cronaca e storia dei recenti avvenimenti italiani)'', 1995, Punto rosso, (+ Gianfranco La Grassa) * ''Una teoria nuova per una diversa strategia politica'', 1995, Punto rosso, (+ Gianfranco La Grassa) * ''Un elogio della filosofia''. 1996, Punto Rosso * ''La fine di una teoria. Il collasso del marxismo storico del Novecento''. 1996, Unicopli, (+ Gianfranco La Grassa) * ''Il comunismo storico novecentesco (1917–1991)''. 1997, Punto Rosso * ''Nichilismo Verità Storia. Un manifesto filosofico della fine del XX secolo''. 1997, CRT, (+ Massimo Bontempelli) * ''Gesù uomo nella storia, Dio nel pensiero''. 1997, CRT, (+ Massimo Bontempelli) * ''Il crepuscolo della profezia comunista. A 150 anni dal "Manifesto"''. 1998, CRT * ''L'alba del Sessantotto. Una interpretazione filosofica''. 1998, CRT * ''Marxismo, Filosofia, Verità''. 1998, CRT * ''Destra e sinistra. La natura inservibile di due categorie tradizionali''. 1998, CRT * ''La questione nazionale alle soglie del XXI secolo''. 1998, CRT * ''Le stagioni del nichilismo. Un'analisi filosofica ed una prognosi storica''. 1998, CRT * ''Individui liberati, comunità solidali. Sulla questione della società degli individui''. 1998, CRT * ''Contro il capitalismo, oltre il comunismo. Riflessioni su di una eredità storica e su un futuro possible''. 1998, CRT * ''La fine dell'Urss. Dalla transizione mancata alla dissoluzione reale''. 1999, CRT * ''Il ritorno del clero. La questione degli intellettuali oggi''. 1999, CRT * ''Le avventure dell'ateismo. Religione e materialismo oggi''. 1999, CRT * ''Un nuovo manifesto filosofico. Prospettive inedite e orizzonti convincenti per il pensiero''. 1999, CRT, (+ Andrea Cavazzini) * ''Hegel Marx Heidegger. Un percorso nella filosofia contemporanea''. 1999, CRT * ''Scienza, politica, filosofia. Un'interpretazione filosofica del Novecento''. 1999, CRT * ''I secoli difficili. Introduzione al pensiero filosofico dell'Ottocento e del Novecento''. 1999, CRT * ''L'educazione filosofica. Memoria del passato – Compito del presente – Sfida del futuro''. 2000, CRT * ''Il bombardamento etico. Saggio sull'interventismo umanitario, l'embargo terapeutico e la menzogna evidente''. 2000, CRT * ''Marxismo e filosofia. Note, riflessioni e alcune novità''. 2002, CRT * ''Un secolo di marxismo. Idee e ideologie''. 2003, CRT * ''Le contraddizioni di Norberto Bobbio. Per una critica del bobbianesimo cerimoniale''. 2004, CRT * ''Marx inattuale. Eredità e prospettiva''. 2004, Bollati Boringhieri * ''Verità filosofica e critica sociale. Religione, filosofia, marxismo''. 2004, CRT * ''Dove va la destra? Dove va la sinistra?'' (+ Giano Accame). 2004, Edizioni Settimo Sigillo * ''Comunitarismo Filosofia Politica''. 2004, Noctua * ''L'ideocrazia imperiale americana''. 2004, Edizioni Settimo Sigillo * ''Filosofia del presente''. 2004, Edizioni Settimo Sigillo * ''Filosofia e Geopolitica''. 2005, Edizioni all'insegna del Veltro, (introduction by Tiberio Graziani) * ''Del buon uso dell'universalismo''. 2005, Edizioni Settimo Sigillo, (introduction by Carlo Gambescia) * ''Dialoghi sul presente. Alienazione, globalizzazione, Destra/Sinistra, atei devoti. Per un pensiero ribelle'' (+

Alain de Benoist Alain de Benoist ( ; ; born 11 December 1943), also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names, is a French political philosopher and journalist, a founding member of the ''Nouvelle Droite'' (France's European Ne ...

and Giuseppe Giaccio). 2005 Controcorrente * ''Marx e gli antichi greci''. 2005, Petite Plaisance, (+Luca Grecchi) * ''Il popolo al potere. Il problema della democrazia nei suoi aspetti storici e filosofici''. 2006, Arianna Editrice, (introduction by Giuseppe Giaccio) * ''Verità e relativismo. Religione, scienza, filosofia e politica nell'epoca della globalizzazione''. 2006, Alpina (introduction by Franco Cardini) * ''Elogio del comunitarismo''. 2006, Controcorrente * ''Il paradosso De Benoist''. 2006, Edizioni Settimo Sigillo, (introduction by Carlo Gambescia) * ''Storia della dialettica''. 2006, Petite Plaisance * ''Storia critica del marxismo''. 2007, Edizioni Città del Sole, (introduction by André Tosel) * ''Storia dell'etica''. 2007, Petite Plaisance * ''Hegel antiutilitarista''. 2007, Edizioni Settimo Sigillo, (introduction by Carlo Gambescia) * ''Storia del Materialismo''. 2007, Petite Plaisance * ''Una approssimazione al pensiero di Karl Marx. Tra materialismo e idealismo''. 2007, Il Prato (introduction by Diego Fusaro) * ''Ripensare Marx. Filosofia, Idealismo, Materialismo''. 2007, Editrice Ermes * ''Un trotzkismo capitalistico? Ipotesi sociologico-religiosa dei Neocons americani e dei loro seguaci europei'' (in AA.VV., ''Neocons. L'ideologia neoconservatrice e le sfide della storia''). 2007, Il Cerchio * ''Alla ricerca della speranza perduta''. 2008, Settimo Sigillo, (+ Luigi Tedeschi) * ''La quarta guerra mondiale''. 2008, Edizioni all'insegna del Veltro * ''Il marxismo e la tradizione culturale europea'', 2009, Petite Plaisance * ''Nuovi signori e nuovi sudditi. Ipotesi sulla struttura di classe del capitalismo contemporaneo'', 2010, Petite Plaisance (with Eugenio Orso) * ''Logica della storia e comunismo novecentesco. L'effetto di sdoppiamento'', 2010, Petite Plaisance (with Roberto Sidoli) * ''Filosofia della verità e della giustizia. Il pensiero di Karel Kosík'', 2012, Petite Plaisance (with Linda Cesana) * ''Lettera sull'umanesimo'', 2012, Petite Plaisance * ''Una nuova storia alternativa della filosofia. Il cammino ontologico-sociale della filosofia'', 2013, Pistoia, Petite Plaisance.

Notes

References

Norberto Bobbio Norberto Bobbio (; 18 October 1909 – 9 January 2004) was an Italian philosopher of law and political sciences and a historian of political thought. He also wrote regularly for the Turin-based daily '' La Stampa''. Bobbio was a social lib ...

, ''Ideological Profile of twentieth-Century Italy'', Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1995 (p. 198). *

Étienne Balibar Étienne Balibar (; ; born 23 April 1942) is a French philosopher. He has taught at the University of Paris X, at the University of California, Irvine and is currently an Anniversary Chair Professor at the Centre for Research in Modern European ...

, ''La filosofia di Marx'', Manifestolibri, 1994 (p. 15). * Norberto Bobbio, ''Né con Marx né contro Marx'', Editori Riuniti, Rome, 1997 (pp. 223–240). * André Tosel, '' Devenir du marxisme: de la fin du marxisme-léninisme aux mille marxismes, France-Italie 1975-1995'', in Bidet, Jacques Bidet – Kouvélakis, Eustache,''Dictionnaire Marx contemporain'', PUF, Paris 2001, (p. 72 ff.). * Cristina Corradi, ''Storia dei marxismi in Italia'', Manifestolibri, Rome, 2005 (pp. 278–294). * *

External links

C. Preve,''The "limitless horizon" of capitalism'' (Interview by Claudio Gallo)

(5)The Dream and the Reality: The Spiritual Crisis of Western Marxism (Text by C.Preve from ''Marxism and Spirituality: An International Anthology'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preve, Costanzo 20th-century Italian philosophers 21st-century Italian philosophers Atheist philosophers Communitarianism Italian anti-capitalists Italian atheists Marxist theorists 1943 births 2013 deaths People from Valenza Universalists