Abstract:

The question of European identity has been a crucial topic in contemporary philosophy. In the 20th and 21st centuries, German and French thinkers have articulated influential historical and theoretical positions that have established the intellectual agenda of a philosophy of Europe. The aim of this presentation is to offer a different point of view, by discussing theses developed by Italian thinkers (Giorgio Agamben, Massimo Cacciari, Franco Cassano, Roberto Esposito, Caterina Resta) over the last three decades. Even if they adopt different approaches to the problem of European identity, they share a fundamental vision when it comes to the relationship between unity and plurality. Importantly, their philosophical positions help us to outline a new understanding of Europe, by retrieving the Mediterranean as a political space and suggesting a significant reorientation of philosophical debates about Europe.