Leopardi primo nichilista d'Europa: le letture di Emanuele Severino e Luigi Capitano

Emanuele Severino (1929-2020) and Luigi Capitano (1963-) claim that contemporary nihilism originates from Giacomo Leopardi. Severino is the first one to outline this idea. His reading exerts a great fascination and has been an absolute novelty in Leopardi studies and, in general, in contemporary continental philosophy. On such basis, Capitano advances on two sides. On the one hand, he makes the analysis subtler by introducing the notion of nihil positivum, which is perhaps the characteristic feature of his reading. Hence Capitano’s definition of Leopardi’s thought as «positive nihilism», which is original and strongly backed by Leopardi’s texts. On the other hand, Capitano expands the dialogue between Leopardi and the other relevant philosophers of the West, as Severino did, but in a more encompassing fashion (not only Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche, but also Camus, Rensi etc.). Whilst Severino’s analysis is centred on the notion of the eternity of beings, Capitano’s insists on the non-deductibility of existence in Leopardi, which is another ground-breaking intuition. This frame is aimed at a rigorous historical and philosophical justification of Leopardi as principle of contemporary nihilism. Leopardi at the beginning of contemporary nihilism is a major event for today’s history of philosophy.