Steno Tedeschi (1881–1911) was an Italian intellectual and academic. His works were associated with the ideas of the Graz School and he is noted for contributing to its object theory and Stephan Witasek's aesthetics. Tedeschi was

Italo Svevo Aron Hector Schmitz (19 December 186113 September 1928), better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo (), was an Italian and Austro-Hungarian writer, businessman, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. A close friend of Irish novelist and ...

's cousin.

Biography

Tedeschi was born in 1881 in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He was a cousin of Italo Svevo. Tedeschi studied in Graz from 1904 to 1906. There, he became a student of the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

philosopher,

Alexius Meinong Alexius Meinong von Handschuchsheim (; 17 July 1853 – 27 November 1920) was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology and theory of objects. He also made contributions to philosophy of mind and theory of value. Lif ...

. Tedeschi would study and illustrate the latter's theory of objects. Under the tutelage of Stephan Witasek, Tadeschi was introduced to the notion of habit through the latter's idea of value beauty or ''Wertschönheit''. He would expand Witasek's position that habits possess the capacity of creating needs and values. When he returned to Trieste, he attempted to promote and defend the ideas of the Graz School. After completing his education, he first taught the Municipal Gymnasium of Trieste. He became a professor of philosophy and is said to have taught and inspired the Italian writer Giani Stuparich. In 1911, Tedeschi committed suicide in front of his dying mother, Peppina Tedeschi.

Works

One of Tedeschi's notable works was a review of

Otto Weininger Otto Weininger (; 3 April 1880 – 4 October 1903) was an Austrian philosopher who in 1903 published the book ''Geschlecht und Charakter'' (''Sex and Character''), which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23. Weininger had a stron ...

's ''Geschlecht und Charackter'' (1903), which – for some in Italy – became an alternative to

Freudian psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

. While translating ''Grundzüge der allgemeinen Ästhetik'' into Italian, Tedeschi took his own life, just as Weininger had done in 1903. The text, which was completed by Mariano Graziussi, included three essays that explored Witasek's conceptualization of value and beauty. These were published as part of the introductory article called "La coscienza estetica secondo Stefano Witasek" ("The aesthetic consciousness according to Stefan Witasek"). Tedeschi also authored critical analyses of other thinkers. For example, he identified

as "the antifeminist philosopher", who was able to effectively expand the feminism theme – a topic that he said was vaguely developed in the works of his contemporaries such as

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

, and

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

. In his examination of Witasek's conception of value and beauty, Tedeschi suggested that habit has immense potential for creating values and that it facilitates "the apperception of the produced representations", leading to enhanced enjoyment. Tedeschi considered himself a bridge between the Graz and the Florentine schools. Tedeschi's works were published in periodicals such as ''Cantoni'', ''Cultura'', ''Rivista di Psic''., and ''Rivista d'Italia''.

Publications

* Tedeschi, Steno (1907). "La coscienza estetica secondo ''Stefano'' Witasek", ''La Cultura Filosofica'', I, 5, pp. 128-135 * Tedeschi, Steno (1908). "Un'equivalente aprioristica della metafisica (la teoria degli oggetti)", ''Rivista filosofica'', X, 11.3, pp. 289-303. * Tedeschi, Steno. (1910). "Sulla funzione conoscitiva del guidizio", ''La Cultura Filosofica'', IV. pp. 32-39. * Tedeschi, Steno. (1912). "Intorno agli oggetti del pensiero", ''Rivista di Filosofia'', IV, pp. 107-118.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tedeschi, Steno 1881 births 1911 deaths Italian essayists Writers from Trieste Abstract object theory Philosophy academics Suicides in Italy