VIII
HEGEL[1]
When one reads Croce's latest book—as indeed when one reads any book by Hegel or by a Hegelian—one is confronted with a problem which is not so much philosophical as psychological. How can it be that men whom I must recognize on other grounds as being intelligent, even as being men of genius, seem to have no difficulty in understanding certain statements which to other persons who are intelligent, and are even men of genius, appear to be absolutely devoid of sense?
Consider the case which naturally comes at this moment to my mind.
Benedetto Croce is a man of great genius, and of vast and well assimilated culture. One reads his books rapidly, with pleasure, with deep interest, even when they treat of the loftiest and most difficult questions that human thought can set before itself. His critical essays are delightful: witty, frank, and erudite. Many of his in-
- ↑ Written à propos of Benedetto Croce's Ciò ch' è vivo e ciò ch' è morto nella filosofia di Hegel ("What is Living and What is Dead of the Philosophy of Hegel"), Bari, 1906.
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