Perché leggere Michelstaedter?

Abstract

La persuasione e la rettorica was written by Carlo Michelstaedter in 1910 as a doctoral thesis, and not intended for public consumption. It has, however, acquired the status of a significant philosophical text of the early 20th century.
The present article attempts to elucidate the reasons why the book, almost one hundred years later, and in spite of its apparently outdated style, content and context, is still relevant. It does so through an investigation concerning its intended readership, and an analysis of its two main wavelengths: the sociological one (criticism of contemporary pedagogy and social structures) and the philosophical one (pursuit of the “thought of the limit”).

“Egli deve aver il coraggio di sentirsi ancora
solo, di guardar ancora in faccia il proprio
dolore, di sopportarne tutto il peso.
(Michelstaedter, 1982: 83)