Lo spirito di fronte al male. L'ultima filosofia di Giovanni Gentile

The essay retraces Giovanni Gentile’s philosophical production from 1943 until his death in 1944, 15 April. Focusing on Genesi e struttura della società, the author investigates the most signifi cant theoretical differences between this last book (published in 1946, after Gentile’s death) and the philosophical works written twenty years before, Fondamenti di Filosofi a del diritto and Teoria generale dello spirito come atto puro. The author points out concepts such as evil and death in these books and studies their different elaboration in Gentile’s last book, considering a possible link between these changes and the anxiety or moral suffering that the philosopher might have felt facing the Nazi Fascist crimes.