Ugo Spirito

"The main focus of Boutroux's thinking revolves around the problem of science and the meaning of natural laws. From 1874, the year of his thesis, De la Contingence des lois de la Nature (On the Contingency of the Laws of Nature), until his death, a little less than half a century, Boutroux developed and elaborated his critique of science, always insisting on it and basing his theories on freedom and religion, which form, one might say, the positive part of his philosophy."

"In the continuous development of nature and spirit, Boutroux believes it is impossible to establish anything definitive that has eternal value. Man, therefore, who is the greatest exponent of progress, does not know what his progress is tending towards; he does not know, therefore, whether his progress is true progress. Everything disappears into the indefinite, into confusion, and a sceptical conclusion seems inevitable. But no: Boutroux, like James before him, does not lose himself in negation at this point, but seeks to save himself from scepticism. And so negation itself is transformed into affirmation. It is precisely the indistinct, the confused that has within itself the reason for life: in it is love, faith, the ideal: in it is that powerful impulse that moves the poet, the artist, the scientist himself, for science would be nothing without faith. But religion thus attained is an empty religion, and the ideal thus posited is an ideal that fades into nothingness."

"[...], if in economics abstract socialism means a capitalist State that differs from the Nation, and if liberalism means a capitalist individual whose interests also differ from those of the Nation, then fascism or corporatism will mean the negation of all state and individual capitalism and the coincidence of State and Nation through the corporation."

"The social revolution now taking place on the international stage consists precisely in the transition to a scientific and technical solution to common problems. Politics is receding into the background as a remnant of a tradition that must be overcome. (from “Introduction”, p. 32)"

"The world of politics is coming to an end because there is no one left who can aspire to formulate and implement programmes inspired by a precise and achievable ideal. The world is breaking away from utopia and is guided by forces whose composition no one can scientifically anticipate. The history of the twenty-five years is a clear demonstration of the impossibility of continuing to pursue messianic mirages, which no one can any longer fantasise about, let alone translate into reality. (from “Introduction”, p. 37)"

"Through the process of unification, everything that is distinctive must necessarily tend to fade and disappear. Only what has common value is destined to become more pronounced and an object of faith. It is precisely this fact that clarifies the current conflict between generations. The values in which fathers believe are still regional ones, and the values to which their children are drawn are those of a world in the process of unification. An in-depth analysis of what characterises the current common life of peoples allows us to understand the move towards an increasingly undifferentiated conception and practice. What is destined to prevail is what is recognised as valid by all, and everything that corresponds to particular traditions can only be saved if it manages to become an accepted part of the common discourse. (from “La protesta dei giovani”, pp. 81–82)"

"One need only follow the usual manifestations of the ruling class, the speeches of its most representative figures, the appeals of the highest authorities, to realise the emptiness of their words and the coldness of their souls. There are still those who are capable of massive faith in the values they have been brought up with, but most are already far removed from them and continue to extol them because they are incapable of replacing them. Thus, the gap between the generations is not even mitigated by esteem and affection for those who believe sincerely, and the detachment of young people takes the form of explicit condemnation. (from “La protesta dei giovani”, p. 85)"

"Perhaps the most extreme form of protest among young people is silent protest. It is the protest of those who accept nothing but reject nothing either, because they do not claim to have the criteria to reject and cannot determine precisely the object of their rejection, so they remain radically perplexed. Their negativity is total, but at the same time they are aware that they cannot express themselves without contradicting themselves.[...] Nothing is accepted and one “searches”. One searches with the awareness of one's complete disorientation: a disorientation so great that it does not even allow for its explicit expression. [...] It is the metaphysics of emptiness that is converted into the metaphysics of searching, which is increasingly fuelled by the search itself, illuminated by all the lights of a particularly broad and profound experience. And it is a metaphysics that reaches the level of a radical need, such that it invests all of today's reality and tends towards that exhaustive answer that every conscious metaphysics proposes. (from “La protesta dei giovani”, pp. 92-93)"

"If the crisis of today's society is a metaphysical crisis, its solution must be metaphysical in nature, and silence today can truly express the awareness of the problem as a problem of the whole. (from “La protesta dei giovani”, p. 93)"