Giuseppe Ferrari

Who was Giuseppe Ferrari?

Giuseppe Ferrari was an Italian philosopher, historian and politician.

He was born at Milan, studied law at Pavia, and took the degree of doctor in 1831. A follower of Romagnosi and Giovan Battista Vico, his first works were an article in the Biblioteca Italiana entitled "Mente di Gian Domenico Romagnosi", and a complete edition of the works of Vico, prefaced by an appreciation.

Finding Italy uncongenial to his ideas, he went to France and, in 1839, produced in Paris his Vico ci l'Italie, followed by La Nouvelle Religion de Campanella and La Théorie de l'erreur. On account of these works he was made Docteur-ès‑lettres of the Sorbonne and professor of philosophy at Rochefort. His views, however, provoked antagonism, and in 1842 he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at Strasbourg. After fresh trouble with the clergy, he returned to Paris and published a defence of his theories in a work entitled Idées sur la politique de Platon et d'Aristote. After a short connection with the college at Bourges, he devoted himself from 1849 to 1858 exclusively to writing.