Figures of Descartes in the works of Benedetto Croce

In his Aesthetic (1902-1908), Benedetto Croce depicts Descartes as the key figure of a rationalist trend which shuts off poetic imagination from philosophical thought and hinders us from recognizing intuition as a specifically aesthetic mode of knowledge. According to Croce, the pernicious consequences of Cartesian mathematical attitude can be found in Locke, Leibniz, Wolff and Baumgarten: it is not until "the Italian Giambattista Vico" that we can talk about a true aesthetic science. During the years in which his "Philosophy of spirit" takes shape, Croce criticizes Descartes' intellectualism, the abstractedness of his science and morals, as long as his ignorance of history. This reading is not original and reveals the influence of the cultural climate of its time (idealism; Francesco De Sanctis). However, it contributes to underpin a strongly innovative conception of art which is going to be very influential during the first half of 20th century. A more detailed study of Croce's vast and complex writings shows that his reading of Descartes denotes a deep knowledge of the history of philosophy: Croce is able to correct simplistic interpretations of certain aspects of Cartesian thought by Vico, Hegel or Valery, and to acknowledge his debt to Descartes's theory of error. But nonetheless his exaggerated schematisations arouse some misunderstandings, for instance about the passions of the soul. After the First World War, Descartes begins to play a different role in Croce's writings. The Neapolitan philosopher feels the need to react to the irrationalism, the vitalism and the nationalism which led to the war and to the decadence of European culture, and which will lead to the Second World War. It is now important to defend reason, of which Descartes is a champion. The French philosopher becomes again, in the eyes of Croce, the leading figure in the fundamental trend of modern philosophy. This shift of emphasis is far from implying a change in Croce's conception of the philosophy of spirit: it rather reflects the ability of his thought to respond to the ever-changing needs which arise throughout the course of history.