GUGLIELMO FERRERO: HISTORY AND MORALITY.
Item
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Title
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GUGLIELMO FERRERO: HISTORY AND MORALITY.
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Identifier
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AAI8112754
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identifier
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8112754
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Creator
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FARAGASSO, FRANK THOMAS.
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Contributor
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Prof. Gertrude Himmelfarb
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, European
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Abstract
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Guglielmo Ferrero was an influential Italian intellectual who lived from 1871 to 1942. He experienced and recorded Italy's struggle to become a democratic industrial society, the traumatic changes brought about by World War I, fascist dictatorship, and the decline of Europe as the center of world power. He was an historian, essayist, and novelist commenting on present-day issues.;This dissertation is concerned largely with Ferrero's historical writings and the way in which his historiographical ideas were informed by his moral and political judgments of contemporary ethical events. Skilled at relating historical events to contemporary ethical questions, he was concerned with understanding the nature of modern progress, the loss of aesthetic and cultural values of Europe, dictatorship in all forms, and the nature of government.;Beginning as a positivist under the tutelage of the criminologist Cesare Lombroso, Ferrero tried to reduce social events to scientific principles with the hope of bringing about social change. As a result of his studies of Roman history, he became more impressed with the impact of individuals on historical events, the importance of the individual will and moral fortitude in the face of opposing values and trends within the larger society. While modifying his pursuit of underlying historical principles, he never completely lost hope of discovering some operational laws for comprehending the complexity of human behavior. With World War I and the success of fascist government in Italy, Ferrero argued more vehemently for the establishment of governmental restraints against what he perceived to be the unchecked and dangerous excesses of industrial and materialist society. Exiled from Italy by the fascists in 1931, he spent his remaining years teaching at the University of Geneva and writing about the principle of legitimacy and the need for a clearer theoretical understanding of sovereignty and the power of the modern state.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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History
