Benedetto Croce

Mustè, Marcello

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-72559-4_2

Marcello Mustè⁴

Part of the book series: Marx, Engels, and Marxisms ((MAENMA))

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Abstract

In Labriola’s third essay, the formula philosophy of praxis was introduced to designate the theoretical ‘pith’ (or ‘kernel’) of Marxism and of Labriola’s own conception. Labriola’s attempt to balance the range of his diverse inspirations into a single perspective was not entirely successful, however. Benedetto Croce, who had financed and encouraged the publication of Labriola’s essays, seemed not, for his own part, to lend particular importance to the phrase, and merely commented on it as an interesting but secondary development of the ‘doctrine of knowledge according to Marx.’ Croce’s remark misled Labriola into understanding Croce had altogether dismissed the interpretation, but praxis was in fact an influence on Croce’s philosophy, from his writings on historical materialism through to his late meditations on the origin of dialectics.

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Notes

1.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, Laterza, Bari 1978, p. 101, nota 1 (HMEKM, p. 114).
2.
F. Nicolini, Croce, Utet, Torino 1976, pp. 75–76.
3.
B. Croce, Memorie della mia vita, Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Storici, Napoli 1992, p. 13; Id., Contributo alla critica di me stesso, in Id., Etica e politica, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1981, p. 327.
4.
B. Croce, La storia ridotta sotto il concetto generale dell’arte, in Id., Primi saggi, Laterza, Bari 1919, pp. 1–41.
5.
B. Croce, Contributo alla critica di me stesso, in Id., Etica e politica, cit., pp. 342–343.
6.
B. Croce, Memorie della mia vita, cit., p. 17.
7.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1861–1890, edited by D. Dugini and R. Martinelli, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1983, pp. 210–211. Labriola was giving Vittorio Imbriani, a philologist whose studies at the time focused on folk songs and the seventeenth-century Italian pastoral, as a representative of sterile scholarship.
8.
Cf. the letter dated December 10, 1887: ‘it is to be expected that such literati as you should produce a wealth of letters’ (idem, p. 252).
9.
Idem, pp. 265–266.
10.
A. Labriola, Carteggio, Vol. 2, 1881–1889, edited by S. Miccolis, Bibliopolis, Napoli 2002, pp. 454–456 and 457.
11.
Idem, p. 455: ‘so I formed the impression there was some kind of conflict in you.’ See also B. Croce, Come nacque e come morì il marxismo teorico in Italia (1895–1900). Da lettere e ricordi personali, in Id., Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., pp. 289–290: ‘two souls coexisted in him [Labriola]: that of the critic and philosopher, who wanted to fix and correct Marxism […], and that of the revolutionary.’.
12.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1890–1895, edited by V. Gerratana and A. A. Santucci, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1983, p. 377.
13.
Idem, p. 544.
14.
Idem, pp. 583–585.
15.
B. Croce, Memorie della mia vita, cit., p. 20.
16.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1890–1895, cit., pp. 588–590.
17.
Idem, p. 625.
18.
Idem, pp. 633–634.
19.
On the ‘political infatuation’ that characterized this period of his studies, see B. Croce, Contributo alla critica di me stesso, in Id., Etica e politica, cit., pp. 329–330.
20.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, edited by V. Gerratana and A. A. Santucci, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1983, p. 739.
21.
Idem, p. 763. See idem, pp. 757–758 and pp. 761–763.
22.
See idem, pp. 826–828.
23.
B. Croce-G. Gentile, Carteggio, Vol. 1, 1896–1900, edited by C. Castellani and C. Cassani, Aragno, Torino 2014, p. 61: ‘In the coming week,’ he wrote to Croce on October 22, 1897, ‘I will have the pleasure of sending you an excerpt from that work of mine that we have talked about together, and which I have titled Una critica del materialismo storico; and I hope that you will not find it entirely worthless.’
24.
Idem, p. 17.
25.
Idem, p. 77.
26.
Idem, p. 248.
27.
Idem, p. 415.
28.
See idem, pp. 20–28.
29.
Idem, p. 40.
30.
Idem, p. 19. See, to the same effect 90 and 284.
31.
Idem, p. 32.
32.
See idem, p. 38.
33.
Idem, p. 85.
34.
Idem, p. 86.
35.
Idem, p. 221.
36.
Idem, p. 268.
37.
See idem, p. 241.
38.
Idem, p. 274.
39.
Idem, p. 279.
40.
See A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 845.
41.
Idem, pp. 907–908.
42.
Idem, pp. 914–916.
43.
Idem, p. 884.
44.
Idem, p. 912.
45.
A. Labriola, ‘A proposito della crisi del marxismo’, in Rivista italiana di sociologia, 1899, fasc. 3, pp. 317–331. On subsequent editions, see A. Labriola, Da un secolo all’altro 1897–1903, edited by S. Miccolis and A. Savorelli, Bibliopolis, Napoli 2012, pp. 289–291.
46.
B. Croce-G. Gentile, Carteggio, Vol. 1, 1896–1900, cit., p. 176.
47.
B. Croce, Recenti interpretazioni della teoria marxistica del valore e polemiche intorno a esse, in Id., Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., pp. 121–137 (HMEKM, pp. 120–131).
48.
B. Croce, Rivoluzione e controrivoluzione, o il 1848 in Germania, Mongini, Roma 1899 (reprinted in B. Croce, Pagine sparse, Vol. 1, Laterza, Bari 1960, pp. 308–313).
49.
See A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 953.
50.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 941.
51.
B. Croce, Tesi fondamentali di un’Estetica come scienza dell’espressione e linguistica generale, in Atti dell’Accademia Pontaniana, 30, 1900, pp. i–iv, 1–88 (anastatic reprint, with a valuable critical apparatus by Felicita Audisio: Bibliopolis, Napoli 2002). See A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 949.
52.
Idem, p. 951.
53.
Idem, p. 1002.
54.
Idem, p. 949.
55.
Idem, p. 950.
56.
Idem, p. 1003.
57.
Idem, p. 923.
58.
See B. Croce, Contributo alla critica di me stesso, cit., p. 342.
59.
Labriola died on February 2, 1904.
60.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 989.
61.
Idem, p. 816.
62.
Idem, p. 818: ‘that little book is written with great precision and seriousness—and contains some valuable thoughts.’.
63.
Idem, p. 939.
64.
Carteggio Gentile-Jaja, Vol. 2, edited by M. Sandirocco, Sansoni, Firenze 1969, p. 215.
65.
Idem, pp. 218–219.
66.
Idem, p. 227.
67.
Idem, p. 224.
68.
Idem, p. 238.
69.
See idem, pp. 244–245.
70.
Idem, p. 248. Nitti and Mazzoni’s appeal against the ruling was turned down by a majority led by Francesco D’Ovidio.
71.
B. Croce-G. Gentile, Carteggio, Vol. 2, 1901–1906, edited by C. Castellani and C. Cassani, Aragno, Torino 2016, pp. 242 and 244: ‘in general,’ Croce wrote, ‘it is always risky to have an examiner replaced, because that is always due to the pressure of one or another candidate. Labriola is independent, thinks independently, and is therefore a guarantee.’.
72.
Carteggio Gentile-Jaja, Vol. 2, cit., p. 252.
73.
Idem, p. 210.
74.
Idem, p. 237.
75.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., pp. 996–997.
76.
Idem, pp. 1001–1003. And see Carteggio Gentile-Jaja, Vol. 2, cit., pp. 271–272.
77.
K. Kautsky, Vorläufer des neueren Sozialismus, Vol. 3, Dietz, Stuttgart 1895.
78.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1890–1895, cit., p. 622.
79.
Idem, p. 612.
80.
Idem, p. 625.
81.
Idem, pp. 633–634.
82.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 175.
83.
Idem, p. 192.
84.
Idem, p. 198.
85.
See idem, pp. 184–186.
86.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 661.
87.
Idem, p. 669.
88.
Idem, p. 675.
89.
Idem, p. 682.
90.
Croce at the outset denounces Loria (the ‘ingenious professor of economics’) for divulging a ‘spurious’ conception of historical materialism and even ‘pretend[ing] to be its inventor.’ B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 2 (HMEKM, p. 2).
91.
Idem, p. 9: ‘But it must appear, even to him, that the name might have been more happily chosen, and that the confusion lies, so to speak, inherent in it’ (HMEKM, p. 9). Then p. 26 for the phrase ‘realistic view of history.’ (HMEKM, p. 26).
92.
Idem, p. 8 (HMEKM, p. 8). The reference is to G.V. Plekhanov, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Materialismus. Holbach, Helvetius, Marx, Dietz, Stuttgart 1896.
93.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 11 (HMEKM, p. 11).
94.
Idem, p. 2 (HMEKM, p. 3).
95.
Idem, p. 9 (HMEKM, p. 13). Starting from the Lineamenti di una logica come scienza del concetto puro, 1904–1905, Croce completely revised his ‘theory of historical factors’: historical factors, he wrote, ‘are not facts, but factors, that is, producers of facts, soul and essence of them’ (B. Croce, La prima forma della ‘Estetica’ e della ‘Logica’, edited by A. Attisani, Principato, Messina-Roma 1925, pp. 194–195).
96.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 10 (HMEKM, p. 14).
97.
Idem, p. 3 (HMEKM, p. 4).
98.
Idem, p. 5 (HMEKM, p. 6).
99.
Idem, p. 6 (HMEKM, p. 6).
100.
Idem, p. 9 (HMEKM, p. 12).
101.
Idem, p. 14 (HMEKM, p. 20).
102.
Idem, p. 13 (HMEKM, p. 18).
103.
Idem, p. 15 (HMEKM, p. 21).
104.
Idem, p. 16 (HMEKM, p. 22).
105.
Labriola first mentioned the idea to Croce in February 1896 and Croce’s article appeared in the November issue of the journal. A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 640.
106.
Fr. Engels’ letzte Arbeit: Ergänzung und Nachtrag zum dritten Buch des Kapital, in Neue Zeit, 14 (1895–1896), 1, pp. 4–11 and 37–44. See K. Marx, Capital. A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 3, translated by David Fernbach, Penguin Books, London 1991, pp. 1027–1047.
107.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 739.
108.
Idem, p. 757 ff. See also Maffeo Pantaleoni’s article, which also addressed Croce, and Croce’s reply in April 1897 (ibid., pp. 780 and 787).
109.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 31.
110.
Idem, p. 26.
111.
Idem, p. 32.
112.
Nuova Antologia, 110, 1890, 7, pp. 492–509. See Croce’s note in B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 33, nota 1.
113.
Ibid.
114.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., pp. 761 ff.
115.
Idem, p. 761.
116.
Proceedings of the Accademia Pontaniana, November 1897 (in HMEKM, ch. 3).
117.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 78, footnote 1 (HMEKM, p. 82, footnote 1).
118.
Idem, p. 104 (HMEKM, p. 118).
119.
Idem, p. 153.
120.
Idem, p. 77, footnote 1 (HMEKM, p. 81, footnote 1).
121.
Idem, p. 85 (HMEKM, p. 93).
122.
In the second part of this work we will discuss Gramsci’s response to this observation of Croce’s on the philosophy of praxis (HMEKM, p. 115, footnote 1).
123.
Idem, pp. 81 and 122.
124.
Idem, p. 81 (HMEKM, p. 86).
125.
Idem, p. 72 (HMEKM, p. 74).
126.
Idem, pp. 97–98.
127.
Idem, pp. 53–54 (HMEKM, p. 50).
128.
Idem, p. 54 (HMEKM, p. 50).
129.
Ibidem (HMEKM, p. 50).
130.
Idem, p. 63 (HMEKM, p. 62).
131.
Idem, p. 63 (HMEKM, p. 62).
132.
Idem, p. 72 (HMEKM, p. 74).
133.
Idem, p. 53.
134.
B. Croce- G. Gentile, Carteggio, Vol. 1, 1896–1900, cit., p. 176.
135.
B. Croce, ‘Marxismo ed economia pura’, in Rivista italiana di sociologia, nov.-dic. 1899, fasc. 4, pp. 738–748.
136.
A. Labriola, Epistolario 1896–1904, cit., p. 758.
137.
B. Croce- G. Gentile, Carteggio, Vol. 1, 1896–1900, cit., p. 169.
138.
V. Pareto, Cours d’économie politique, 2 vols, F. Rouge, Lausanne 1896–1897.
139.
V. Pareto, Comment se pose le problème de l’économie pure, Mémoire presenté en décembre 1898 à la société Stella, Lausanne 1898. Pareto’s replies to Croce were printed in Giornale degli economisti, Aug. 1900, pp. 139–162 and Feb. 1901, pp. 131–138. For a comprehensive view of these writings, see V. Pareto, Écrits d’économie politique pure, edited by G. Busino, Droz, Geneva 1982.
140.
V. Pareto, Comment se pose le problème de l’économie pure, cit., p. 8.
141.
‘The principle of my sociology resides precisely in separating logical actions from non-logical ones and in showing that for most men the second category is far greater than the first’ (V. Pareto, Lettere a Maffeo Pantaleoni, Vol. 2, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Roma 1960, p. 73. Letter of May 17, 1897).
142.
Barbèra, Firenze 1889.
143.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 218.
144.
Idem, p. 223 (HMEKM, p. 174).
145.
B. Croce, Filosofia della Pratica. Economica ed etica, edited by M. Tarantino, Bibliopolis, Napoli 1996, pp. 242–268 (PPEE, pp. 374–410).
146.
B. Croce, Materialismo storico ed economia marxistica, cit., p. 224 (HKEKM, p. 179).
147.
See idem, p. 220 (HKEKM, pp. 173–174).
148.
Idem, p. 223 (HKEKM, p. 179).
149.
Idem, p. 224 (HKEKM, p. 179).
150.
B. Croce, Tesi fondamentali di un’estetica come scienza dell’espressione e linguistica generale, in Id., La prima forma della “Estetica” e della “Logica”, cit., pp. 66 and 117.
151.
Idem, pp. 11–12.
152.
Idem, p. 27.
153.
Idem, p. 24.
154.
Idem, p. 25.
155.
B. Croce, Estetica come scienza dell’espressione e linguistica generale. Teoria e storia, edited by G. Galasso, Adelphi, Milano 2005, p. 61 (ASE, p. 77).
156.
B. Croce, Logica come scienza del concetto puro, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1981, p. 12 (LSPC, p. 16).
157.
B. Croce, Filosofia della Pratica. Economica ed etica, cit., p. 214 (PPEE, p. 304).
158.
Idem, p. 211 (PPEE, p. 300).
159.
B. Croce, Logica come scienza del concetto puro, cit., p. 107 (LSPC, p. 177).
160.
B. Croce, Filosofia della Pratica. Economica ed etica, cit., p. 188 (PPEE, p. 265).
161.
Idem, p. 156 (PPEE, p. 288).
162.
Idem, p. 45 (PPEE, p. 40).
163.
Idem, pp. 34–40 (PPEE, pp. 21–32).
164.
Idem, p. 149 (PPEE, p. 205).
165.
See pp. 149–150 and p. 248 (PPEE, pp. 205–206).
166.
B. Croce, Scritti e discorsi politici, Vol. 1, edited by A. Carella, Bibliopolis, Napoli 1993, p. 259.
167.
B. Croce, Filosofia e storiografia, edited by S. Maschietti, Bibliopolis, Napoli 2005, p. 288.
168.
B. Croce, La storia come pensiero e come azione, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1966, pp. 45–46.
169.
B. Croce, Filosofia e storiografia, cit., p. 65.
170.
B. Croce, Indagini su Hegel e schiarimenti filosofici, Laterza, Bari 1952, p. 40.
171.
Idem, p. 51.
172.
Idem, p. 39.
173.
Idem, p. 38.

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Department of Philosophy, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
Marcello Mustè

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Mustè, M. (2021). Benedetto Croce. In: Marxism and Philosophy of Praxis. Marx, Engels, and Marxisms. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72559-4_2

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72559-4_2
Published: 07 August 2021
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