Births on February 4

Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991)

Who was Luigi Pareyson?

Luigi Pareyson (4 February 1918 – 18 September 1991) was an influential Italian philosopher, recognised for his profound contributions to aesthetics, hermeneutics, and the philosophy of art. Born in Ponderano, Italy, Pareyson dedicated his academic career primarily to the University of Turin, where he held the chair of Aesthetics and later Theoretical Philosophy. He trained a generation of prominent Italian thinkers, including Gianni Vattimo and Umberto Eco, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary Italian philosophy.

What was Pareyson's Key Philosophical Contribution?

Challenging Dominant Aesthetic Theories

Pareyson's most significant philosophical intervention came in the realm of aesthetics. He became widely known for directly challenging and re-evaluating the prevailing aesthetic paradigms in Italy, particularly the idealist philosophy of Benedetto Croce and various forms of positivist aesthetics. Benedetto Croce (1866–1952) was a towering figure in Italian intellectual life, whose aesthetic theory, primarily articulated in works like *Estetica come scienza dell'espressione e linguistica generale* (1902), posited that art is fundamentally intuition-expression – a non-physical, internal, and spiritual act of creation that precedes any externalisation. For Croce, the aesthetic act was an intuitive grasp of the universal in the particular. Pareyson found this framework insufficient to capture the full complexity of artistic creation and experience. Similarly, he critiqued positivist approaches to art, which tended to reduce aesthetic phenomena to quantifiable data or empirical observations, failing to account for the unique creative act and the interpretive dimension of art.

The Theory of Formativity (Teoria della formatività)

In response to these perceived limitations, Pareyson developed his groundbreaking "Theory of Formativity" (Teoria della formatività), most notably articulated in his seminal 1954 monograph, *Estetica. Teoria della formatività*. This theory radically redefines the nature of artistic creation and the artwork itself. Instead of seeing art as merely the externalisation of a pre-existing intuition (as Croce did), Pareyson proposed that art is a process of 'forming' or 'shaping' (from the Italian 'formare'). He argued that the artist does not merely execute a fully conceived idea; rather, the idea itself takes shape and defines itself *through* the very act of its formation. The artwork is therefore not a representation of something pre-existent but a unique, unrepeatable 'form' that emerges from an innovative, inventive process. This means the aesthetic act is fundamentally an 'inventive forming' that brings something genuinely new into existence, where the 'how' of its making is inseparable from the 'what' of its being. This dynamic process acknowledges the artist's struggle, choice, and engagement with the medium, leading to a form that is both expressive and unique.

Influence of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Hermeneutics

Pareyson’s theory of formativity was deeply influenced by the hermeneutics inherent in the later philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), particularly his emphasis on language games and forms of life. While Wittgenstein did not explicitly develop a theory of art, his philosophical investigations highlighted how meaning is not fixed but arises from usage within specific contexts and rule-governed activities. Pareyson extended this insight to art, suggesting that an artwork, like a language game, constitutes a unique 'form' with its own internal 'rules' or logic, developed through the creative process. Understanding art, therefore, becomes an act of interpretation (hermeneutics) – engaging with the unique form that has been 'made' and discovering the meaning immanent within its specific creative process, rather than decoding a universal, pre-determined message. This perspective underscores the interpretive nature of aesthetic experience, where the artwork continually invites new understanding through its singular and inventive form.

Frequently Asked Questions about Luigi Pareyson's Aesthetics

What is "formativity" in Pareyson's philosophy?

Formativity, or formatività, is Luigi Pareyson's core concept, asserting that art is a unique process of "inventive forming" where the idea and its execution are inseparable. It means that the artist does not merely externalize a pre-existing idea, but rather the artwork's specific form and meaning emerge and define themselves through the very act of its creation and shaping. The resulting artwork is thus a singular, unrepeatable "form" that truly brings something new into existence.

How did Pareyson's views differ from Benedetto Croce's?

Pareyson challenged Benedetto Croce's dominant idealist aesthetic, which posited art as fundamentally "intuition-expression"—an internal, spiritual act that precedes externalization. Pareyson argued that this view didn't adequately account for the dynamic, shaping process of artistic creation. For Pareyson, the artwork is not just an externalization of an inner intuition but a unique form that comes into being through an inventive, non-predefinable process, where the "how" of its making is integral to the "what" of its being.

What was the influence of Ludwig Wittgenstein on Pareyson?

Pareyson's theory of formativity was significantly influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophy, particularly his ideas about language games and the context-dependent nature of meaning. Pareyson drew from this to emphasize that an artwork, much like a language game, establishes its own unique internal logic or "rules" through its creation. This view frames the understanding of art as a hermeneutical (interpretive) act, where one engages with the specific "form" created to grasp its inherent meaning, rather than relying on universal aesthetic principles.