Background
Guzzo, Augusto was born on January 24, 1894 in Naples.
Guzzo, Augusto was born on January 24, 1894 in Naples.
Graduated from University of Naples. 1945 (thesis on Kant’s early work).
Taught at the ‘leceo’ in Castellamare di Stabia, 1918-1924. Taught Philosophy in Turin, 1924-1932. Professor of Moral Philosophy, Pisa, 1932-1939.
Returned in 1939 to Turin to a Chair in Theoretical Philosophy.
Guzzo’s work falls into three periods. The first, up to 1929, culminates in Veritá e realtá and Giudizio e azione. Guzzo was thought there to subscribe to Gentile's views, but his central problem was normative reason in human experience. The second period, up until 1940, reacts against antipositivist idealist accounts of religion. The third period attempts a systematization of his thinking. The I is conceived as a transcendental subject of thought that must appear concretely in persons. It is not reason but uses reason in the search for truth. Concepts are not mere thoughts but are actively used in interpreting experience. This grounds morality, which conditions both practical and theoretical activities. Science involves the coordination of pure mathematics with experimentation. Art is spirit in its inventiveness. Language is the enabling condition for art, freeing us from the immediacy of experience. Religion is the aspiration for the divine that comes from God who gives us something of himself. Philosophy is the critical knowledge that accompanies all our activities. Its rationality is in positive harmony with faith.