Annali del Dipartimento di Filosofia - contenuto non piu disponibile

The main theme of this paper will be the elimination of the sensible features of our experience from the philosophical account of what it means to know something. The textual source on which we will focus our attention is Benedetto Croce’s Estetica come scienza dell’espressione e linguistica generale. Besides an epistemological dimension (impressions, sensible content, sensation), what is sensible in our experience has also an ontological connotation (matter, content, facts). According to Croce, neither of them can be the basis of our knowledge. What we mean when we say to know something is neither that we have impressions nor that we possess sensations, but rather that we have a representation of that thing. In this way, the sensible features of our experience are ruled out from its philosophical account and are replaced through spiritual activities pertaining to the practical realm of the Spirit.